When going small could be the biggest thing we do…

Life is often frustrating, be it in our working?lives?or the more personal challenges that are thrown at us?everyday. Mostly, we cope with these tests quite quietly, but sometimes the frustration gets to a point where we react. Anger, criticism, or simple negativity seldom leads to a better place?- but finding the will and creativity to challenge constructively yields by far the better outcome more often.?I’ll confess to having learnt that the hard way on occasion.?

Sometimes?it’s the willingness to use?your voice with the experience it brings,?and it’s with that?in mind that?I’m writing this piece today ahead of?Nuclear?Week in?Parliament?later this month.?

Decarbonisation is of critical importance for mankind and we have the capability -?right here, right now?in the UK, to lead the world. As our reliance on fossil fuelled generation declines, Small Modular Reactor Technology is perfectly suited to provide the on-demand power to compliment the renewable energy we are blessed to enjoy, but we need to stop talking and start doing!

I simply ask for a few moments of your time to read and reflect on?a?topic that’s been at the very core of everything I’ve done throughout my working life.?

Securely, affordably, and safely generating electricity to keep the country’s lights on.?

Some reading this piece may know me,?my values and where my?point of view stems?from.?However, most?probably won’t, so?for those,?I’ll outline a little of my experience?across the sector.

I’ve been in the power industry all my working life. Well, not counting selling cockles and mussels round the pubs of Mexborough, Denaby and Conisborough?in South Yorkshire first!?

The day was 14th December 1984 when I started as an Auxiliary Plant Attendant at Ferrybridge B Power Station. I was awestruck. I was at the bottom of a very long?ladder,?and I absolutely loved it. I was part of something much bigger than any individual and it was important. So important! I was helping to keep the country’s lights on and that remains hugely significant to me today. That was the era of coal,?and it was?king!?

I went through many incremental career steps, putting myself through college for what was then ONC followed by HNC in plant Engineering at Rotherham College while working shifts, eventually gaining a BEng (Hons) in Mechanical & Electrical Engineering in 1997. Today, I’m a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical?Engineers?and a Fellow of the Energy Institute.

From becoming one of the country’s youngest?Shift Charge Engineers at the age of 25, to?COO of RWE npower,?Chair of Horizon Nuclear Power and CEO of U.K. Coal, my journey in between has been extensive. It has?given me the opportunity to?build industry leading renewable energy teams and?work on?projects across the globe, including?industry-first projects,?like the?UK’s first offshore wind farm at North Hoyle.?

Why do you need to know all this??

I’ve lived and breathed this?industry for 38 years. Not through theory or distant PhD thesis?but?being on the ground, learning it, building it and?when the time comes - closing it. Through adaptation, policy influence and change and through ensuring we continue to have a diversity of energy source.?Diversity is the absolute key as the current Ukraine crisis has shown.?

It’s that same energy diversity that causes me great concern today as we seem?reluctant,?as a?country,?to take the bold?(not maverick!)?steps?required.?We seem to lack?ambition,?and?yet the?consequence of?further contemplation and inaction are unthinkable.?

I specifically want to raise my voice in support of SMR technology?(Small Modular Reactors for those not familiar with the acronym).?

Now before anyone reacts,?I wish to make something very clear.?

You will never find me advocating?one silver bullet type solution?- there is no such thing!?

Diversification is essential. I personally want to see more wind power?built,?on and offshore. We could do with some more hydro in the form of pumped storage.?As an island state we must?also?be pushing hydrogen from the electrolysis of sea water and if we can, look again at the huge energy available in our waves and tides.?

But we must also include nuclear,?in addition to the assets currently under construction.?

It’s a very good thing that the EDF provided reactors got the go ahead but that’s not enough to complement our needs and they are not yet here.?

We have a unique opportunity in our hands, right here right now, and?should do all that we can to make it happen.?

Rolls Royce is a brand we can all associate with, and for decades they have been the source of nuclear energy in our Royal Navy’s Continuous at Sea Defence. Similarly, millions of us rely on their engineering expertise to power the jet aircraft we entrust our families with to either take us on holiday, visit loved ones far afield or fuel our business connectivity around the globe.?

They are currently gaining approval for a modular reactor design right here in the U.K., under the energetic, and much needed leadership of Tom Samson, with the very real desire and opportunity to establish modular production capabilities on U.K. soil. We cannot let this momentum slip and the U.K. must place orders to build them immediately the GDA green light is given.?

We have the U.K. sites readily available across a swathe of existing nuclear licensed NDA sites and other facilities such as Sellafield and land adjacent.?

I’m now 38 years in this industry and I can honestly say that I have never seen the component parts of what?a huge “Sovereign” U.K. SMR success story could be?feel so aligned and so close.?

With?Nuclear Week in Parliament?taking place later this month,?I sincerely hope that we can quickly focus on the art of the possible and make this happen. Great British Nuclear (GBN), could, even should,?for example,?be given powers to fully procure these reactors in behalf of U.K. plc. What is more, GBN, can be given the teeth they need to drive competitive tension as other technologies enter the 50Hz GDA process.?

The zero carbon, on demand, home engineered, home?built?and home delivered solution is ours for the taking now however and we cannot and should not wait any longer before taking our first SMR step.?

We must take it now.?

#Nuclear #Energy #Parliament #UK #SMR