Market Intelligence
Civil Nuclear Power United States

United Kingdom Nuclear Energy

Prospects for services beyond new large plant construction, particularly decommissioning and advanced reactor development remain positive and make the UK one of the top markets worldwide for U.S. nuke companies. 

Robust foreign competition, financing and local content requirements are the chief obstacles for U.S. industry. The UK has privatized power generation and liberalized its electricity market, which together make major capital investments problematic. Local content requirements support the use of local companies reducing the amount of U.S. export content that can be devoted to a project. Additionally, foreign involvement and ownership provide obstacles to U.S. industry as projects owned by France or China are, or may, move forward. French and Chinese state-backed industries can invest significantly more capital in developing these projects. The UK has privatized power generation and liberalized its electricity market, which together make major capital investments problematic.

The United Kingdom has 11 operational nuclear reactors operating, which comprise just less than 20% of the United Kingdom’s electricity. Over the past year nuclear energy avoided 22.7 million metric tonnes of CO2 emissions in the UK – this is the equivalent of taking around a third of all cars in the UK off the road. All but one of the operating reactors are scheduled to be shut down by 2030, but the United Kingdom has plans to bring new plants online by 2026 to offset some of the expected loss in nuclear generation. 

The need for new nuclear power is especially significant with the United Kingdom’s policy of phasing out coal-fired generation without CO2 abatement in 2025; the United Kingdom’s 2019 law to bring the country to zero net emissions by 2050; and the goal of electrifying much of the transportation and heating sectors in the coming decades. 
The first new-generation large plants are expected to be on line by about 2026. No restriction on foreign equity is in place. Small and Advances Modular Reactors are a hot topic in the UK as well. The United Kingdom laid out its commitment to developing and deploying advanced nuclear technologies by providing roughly $75 million for research and development of advanced modular reactors and establishment of a framework to support the development and deployment of small modular reactors. 

The country also has full fuel cycle facilities from fuel manufacture (WEC) and reactor operation through to reprocessing and recycling of nuclear materials followed by dismantling and decommissioning. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) supervises decommissioning and clean-up work. Opportunities are:

  • New Large-Scale Build: \EDF Energy is building two Areva (France) EPRs at Hinkley Point, Somerset. Construction at started in 2018 and EDF plans to have the first of these new reactors grid-connected by 2026. The project is valued at $25-27 bn. Hinkle Point is a joint venture of EDF (66.5%) with China General Nuclear Corporation (CGN) (33.5%). Major U.S. engineering companies (Bechtel, Jacobs, GE through Alstom acquisition) are involved in the project even their scope is rather limited. Bechtel & WEC are also looking at developing a three-unit AP100 plant at the Wylfa nuke site. 
  • Small and Advances Modular Reactors: The UK Government has laid out its commitment to developing and deploying advanced nuclear technologies by providing approx. $75 million for R&D for advanced modular reactors (AMRs) and setting out a new framework to support the development and deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs) by 2029. U.S. SMR and AMR technology providers have an opportunity to expand into the UK market. 
  • Decommissioning: The NDA owns 19 nuclear sites across the UK and is responsible for delivering the decommissioning and clean-up of the UK’s civil nuclear legacy. It aims to do this by introducing innovation and contractor expertise through a series of competitions. For the supply chain, decommissioning is a significant market: the United Kingdom plans to shut down fourteen reactors by 2030 and currently spends approximately $3.7 billion annually on decommissioning. All major U.S. engineering companies are involved.
  • Existing Plants Life Extension: Existing nuclear plants are all owned and operated by EDF Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the EDF Group (headquartered in France), one of Europe’s largest energy groups.  EDF Energy spends about $800 million per year on plant upgrades to enable ongoing operation. 

For more information contact Claudia.Colombo@trade.gov.

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