Great British Nuclear seeks EDF land for small modular reactor

The government is holding talks with EDF to take control of land at a site in Lancashire as part of plans to roll out mini-nuclear power stations in Britain.

Great British Nuclear is in early discussions with the French state-owned energy group over buying land adjacent to its existing nuclear plants at Heysham, with a view to potentially giving the green light for a private developer to build a small modular reactor there.

The 255-acre site is one of eight in Britain approved for new nuclear development and is the location of EDF’s Heysham 1 and Heysham 2 nuclear power stations. Almost 109 acres has a nuclear site licence, while the rest is being used for other purposes.

Britain’s first small nuclear plants are due to be awarded government contracts this summer after six designs, including one from Rolls-Royce, were selected to compete for up to £20 billion in taxpayer funding. The government does not expect to make a final investment decision on the first small modular reactor until 2029. Great British Nuclear is searching initially for two sites, each to house a single mini-reactor, with a plan to build between four and six in total, as part of the first phase of the rollout in Britain.

The government set up Great British Nuclear last year as an arm’s-length body to drive the deployment of the technology as it pursues a goal of increasing Britain’s nuclear capacity to 24 gigawatts by 2050, up from only 6GW at present, including by deploying small modular reactors.

All bar one of the nation’s existing plants are set to close by the end of the decade, including the two at the Heysham site. EDF is building Britain’s only new nuclear power station, Hinkley Point C in Somerset, which would generate 3.2GW. However, the project has been beset by delays and budget overruns. The French group is also involved in developing Sizewell C, a proposed nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast near the Sizewell B reactor.

Unlike conventional plants, small modular reactors can be factory-built, take up the space of one or two football pitches and have a capacity of up to 500 megawatts.

EDF declined to comment on the talks. However, the company has said previously that Heysham would be “well suited” to the development of both small modular reactors and advanced modular reactors. “Not only does the site have available land, grid and rail connections and a supportive community, it also has a highly skilled workforce, the largest of any generating nuclear site in the UK, which could support the operation of any future nuclear development,” it has said.

The development comes after reports that Great British Nuclear is involved in initial negotiations with Hitachi, the owner of land at Wylfa on Anglesey, over taking control of the site, another earmarked for new nuclear development.

A spokesman for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, said: “We’ve ended the stop-start approach to nuclear and recently launched a road map setting out the biggest expansion of the sector in 70 years, simplifying regulation and shortening the process for building new power stations, meaning cleaner, cheaper and more secure energy in the long term. Heysham and Wylfa are among a number of potential sites that could host civil nuclear projects. While no decisions on sites have yet been taken, we are working with Great British Nuclear to support access to potential sites for new nuclear projects.”