Nuclear Research and Development Capabilities
CHAPTER 1: Introduction
1. The UK's energy policy aims to achieve the
following objectives. (1) Energy security, protecting consumers
against fluctuations in the supply of fossil fuels from outside
the UK. (II) Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to meet the
legally binding commitments of the Climate Change Act (2008).
(III) Affordability, ensuring that consumers are not obliged to
pay more than necessary. (IV) Safety of supply. The Government
have said that it will deploy a portfolio of energy sources including
nuclear, renewables and fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage
(CCS)[4]. There are a range
of scenarios with different proportions of these three sources,
but it is widely agreed that nuclear energy will play a significant
role in the portfolio.
Scope
2. The purpose of this inquiry is to consider
whether the UK has sufficient research and development (R&D)
capabilities and associated expertise to support current plans
for new nuclear build in the UK and what capabilities will be
required in the future in order to meet our energy needs safely
and securely. Although this inquiry does not attempt to look at
the more fundamental issue of the arguments for or against nuclear
energy, we recognise that public acceptability of energy technologies
is a key factor in determining their future use. We have therefore
also considered the need for social science research into the
use of nuclear technologies. Equally, although we have not attempted
to look at the R&D needs for other energy technologies, we
recognise that such R&D will be an important consideration
in the future within the energy portfolio.
3. The UK's nuclear interests extend beyond national
borders to international non-proliferation and security policies
and we acknowledge the critical importance of these policy areas
and their relevance to nuclear R&D capabilities. However,
for the purposes of this inquiry, we have focused principally
on UK nuclear fission R&D and associated expertise and the
UK's ability to meet future nuclear energy requirements, touching
on other related policy areas only where they have implications
relevant to this inquiry. R&D capabilities for nuclear fission
overlap with nuclear fusion and we have considered this overlap
where relevant.[5] We have
also focused on the R&D capabilities and associated expertise
needed to deliver the UK's radioactive waste management and disposal
programmes, which are an integral part of the current and future
plans for nuclear energy. Given that fusion energy is not predicted
to have an impact on the energy portfolio until after 2050, and
will not therefore be able to contribute to meeting the UK's 2050
emission reduction targets, we do not consider what fusion energy
R&D capabilities may be required over this period.
4. The decision to conduct this inquiry was taken
before the serious incident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power
plant in Japan following the earthquake and subsequent tsunami
in March 2011. Safety R&D capabilities are an inherent requirement
for the safe and secure supply of nuclear energy in the future.
As a result, the discussion of safety R&D capabilities takes
place throughout the text of this report. In recognition of the
increasing focus on safety internationally, however, in Chapter
6 we consider the additional R&D requirements that have come
to light as a result of the incident.
Up to 2050 and beyond
5. The Government have developed a number of
scenarios for the UK's future energy needs (see Chapter 3) with
a time horizon of 2050. Although setting a deadline is essential
in terms of measuring the likelihood of achieving emission reduction
targets, it is less useful if applied as a cut off date for planning
nuclear energy infrastructure needs, including, for example, maintenance
of R&D capabilities and associated expertise necessary to
continue operating the UK fleet. For this reason, where possible,
we have tried to look beyond 2050. We were, however, limited by
the fact that the majority of scenario work to-date has not focused
beyond this timescale.
Structure of the report
6. In Chapter 2 we look at the changes that have
occurred within the nuclear industry over the last few decades,
and the influence these have had on the bodies that fund or conduct
nuclear research today. In Chapter 3 we discuss the range of potential
future contributions that nuclear energy could make to the energy
portfolio up to 2050 and beyond. In Chapter 4 we provide an analysis
of the Government's current energy policies concerning nuclear
energy. In Chapter 5 we consider what R&D capabilities and
associated expertise will be required in the UK up to 2050 and
beyond, and whether the UK's current capabilities are adequate
to meet the future needs. In Chapter 6 we look at what measures
need to be taken to ensure that the UK's R&D capabilities
are adequate and in Chapter 7 we examine the role of various bodies
that fund or carry our nuclear R&D, and whether their remits
could be improved in order to achieve this more effectively. In
Chapter 8 we also consider the wider range of policy areas to
which nuclear R&D is relevant and the implications of the
cross-over between these policy areas for future energy policies.
These include civil and defence nuclear programmes, security and
non-proliferation, radioactive waste and disposal programmes and
commercial opportunities. A list of abbreviations and acronyms
is provided in Appendix 6.
Acknowledgements
7. The membership and interests of the Science
and Technology Committee are set out in Appendix 1 and those who
submitted written and oral evidence are listed in Appendix 2.
The call for evidence with which we launched our inquiry is reprinted
in Appendix 3.
8. In April 2011 we held a seminar to which academics,
representatives from Government departments and agencies and a
variety of other organisations contributed. A list of those who
presented at the seminar is set out in Appendix 4. In July 2011
we visited the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL), the Nuclear
Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and the Sellafield site. A further
visit by Lord Jenkin of Roding and Lord Wade of Chorlton took
place in September 2011. A note of the first visit is set out
in Appendix 5. We are grateful to all those who assisted us in
our work.
9. Finally, we would like to thank our Specialist
Adviser, Professor Robin Grimes, Director of the Centre for Nuclear
Engineering and Professor of Materials Physics at Imperial College
London, for his expertise and guidance throughout this inquiry.
We stress however that the conclusions we draw and recommendations
we make are ours alone.
4 As well as increasing energy efficiency and reducing
demand. Back
5
Fusion releases energy from the fusion of two smaller atoms into
a larger one. Fission releases energy during the process of splitting
a single larger atom. Back
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