Building new nuclear power stations is an important part of our strategy for “keeping the lights on” in the UK while reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
With our nuclear joint venture partner E.ON we have bought land at Wylfa, on Anglesey, and Oldbury, in Gloucestershire, which was sold for nuclear development. Our objective is to license, construct and operate at least 6GW of new nuclear build, with the first station coming online at around the end of the next decade. RWE npower has also secured options to buy land at two sites for possible new nuclear generation on the West Cumbrian coast.
With regard to safety, the modern nuclear industry in the UK is very closely regulated to ensure all plants are built and operated to the highest safety levels. Alongside this, the Environment Agency ensures radioactive waste discharges and other environmental impacts are correctly managed.
Nuclear safety policies involve identifying and assessing all of the hazards which might lead to an incident, and then setting up fail-safe systems and multiple barriers to combat them. Before a nuclear power station is licensed in the UK, its owners must demonstrate that it is safe and that the likelihood of uncontrolled radioactive material escaping is less than one in a million for each year of the reactor’s life. To achieve these results, all conceivable events from earthquakes and fire to aircraft crashes must be prepared for.
Finally, there is great potential for making nuclear a major source of UK power generation. It is the only low carbon, internationally-proven technology capable of providing large-scale continuous generating capacity within the timescales needed to meet the Government’s emission targets and maintain security of supply. Furthermore, the uranium required to fuel existing and potential new stations is readily available from politically stable countries.
