House of Lords - Nuclear Research and Development Capabilities

Nuclear Research and Development Capabilities - Science and Technology Committee Contents

CHAPTER 2: The nuclear R&D sector—past and present

Historical context

10. During the mid-twentieth century, the UK was a world leader in nuclear fission R&D and in the development of nuclear technology. The UK developed Magnox reactors (Generation 1 technology systems) in the 1950s and gas-cooled systems during the 1960s and 70s (Generation II Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactors (AGR)(see Box 1). Since the 1970s, the dominant technologies deployed worldwide have been Generation II light water reactor systems (either Pressurised Water (PWR) or Boiling Water (BWR) systems) and then Generation III systems. These designs offered evolutionary improvements to the Generation II designs. It was not until the late 1970s that the UK shifted its attention away from involvement in technology design to the adoption of light water reactor systems technology, building the UK's first PWR, Sizewell B, which began operating in 1995.[6]

BOX 1

Nuclear Reactor Technologies
Since the United States Department of Energy launched the Generation IV initiative in 2000, "Generations" have become the commonly used terminology for reactor types. Most Generation I to III designs require a moderator material to slow down the speed of neutrons (through a transfer of energy) and thereby increase the rate of the fission reaction. These are known as thermal reactors because the (thermal) neutrons have the same effective temperature as their surroundings. They also require cooling systems to remove the heat released. (This can also be the moderator as is the case for water reactor systems.) Heat from the reactor is then converted into steam to power turbines to generate electricity. Generation IV reactors are either advanced thermal reactors, which build on the Generation III designs but operate at very high temperatures to improve their efficiency, or fast reactors which rely on fast neutrons (that have not been moderated) to stimulate fission and also breed new fissile material. Fast reactors require even more effective cooling systems to remove the heat generated.
Generation I reactors include prototype thermal power reactors and the first designs that were connected to the grid. The UK's Magnox reactors, for example, are carbon dioxide cooled and graphite moderated. (Magnox is the name of the alloy used to clad the rods in the reactor.)
Generation II reactors include current operating reactors (built from 1970 to 2010). In the UK these are mainly AGR and one PWR. Other countries have mostly built PWR but also BWR.
Generation III designs are about to be deployed. In the UK they will be PWR with advanced safety systems, including a degree of passive safety so that human intervention is not required in order for the reactor to remain in a stable or contained state in the event of a loss of coolant.
Generation IV reactor systems will be available for deployment only after about 2030, in most instances, and are presently being designed or prototyped. To qualify, these reactors must have safety systems that are entirely passive, with efficient utilization of the fuel. Generation IV reactors could have vastly improved fuel efficiency and this could lead to a significant reduction in the amount of waste produced due to the type of reaction that takes place. Some designs have the ability to convert waste materials into fuel and effectively "breed" fuel, thereby reducing the need for new fuel. However, Generation IV designs represent significant challenges in terms of producing materials that can withstand the conditions within a reactor.

11. By the start of the 1980s, an estimated 8,000 people were involved in the UK's nuclear R&D programme, working at British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL), the UK Atomic Energy Authority[7] or the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB). This programme received Government funding of about £300-350 million a year (at this time) which included support for a number of R&D facilities for studying highly active materials around the country including facilities at Harwell, Berkeley and Windscale (see Figure 1).[8]

FIGURE 1

UK public sector fission R&D funding[9] (£ millions)

12. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, the UK played no part in the development of new reactor designs to follow Generation II reactors, and in the mid-90s the nuclear industry was privatised with the break-up of BNFL following the completion of the PWR at Sizewell B, the last nuclear plant to be built in the UK.[10] As a result, Government funding for nuclear R&D and associated expertise declined significantly, the research programme for developing advanced reactor designs was shelved. Furthermore the research focus switched to maintaining the existing fleet and to decommissioning and waste management to deal with legacy waste.[11] Today, Sellafield Ltd estimate that fewer than 2,000 people work on UK nuclear fission R&D in the private and public sectors[12] (around 550 of whom are situated at NNL) and only a small number of public research laboratories remain (see Figure 2). In 2009, recognising the need to preserve some nuclear R&D capabilities and associated expertise in the UK, the Government set up NNL, staffed from the remaining R&D capabilities still present at BNFL and utilising the facilities available at Sellafield and other sites (see paragraph 30).

FIGURE 2

UK Nuclear R&D Workforce: showing the reduction in workforce following the closure of Government nuclear laboratories[13]

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

13. More recently, given the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and concerns over security of supply, countries (including the UK) have expressed renewed interest in nuclear power generation. In 2010, 438 reactors were operating worldwide (totalling 374 gigawatts (GW) capacity) and, a report by the Energy Research Partnership (ERP) entitled Nuclear Fission ("the ERP report")[14] estimated there were plans to build 52 reactors (primarily in China and Russia) with a further 143 on order or planned and 344 proposed (in total, potentially delivering a further 363 GW). Forecasts from the International Energy Association (IEA) suggest that, by 2050, global capacity will increase to 1,200 GW, providing 24% of global electricity generation.[15]

14. These forecasts were made before the serious incident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan in March 2011. It is too early to tell what impact this will have on global plans for nuclear new build. Some countries, notably Germany, decided to halt current plans for building new nuclear power stations following the incident. In September 2011 the Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshihiko Noda, also committed to reducing the country's reliance on nuclear energy in the longer-term.[16] Most countries with significant nuclear programmes, however, including the UK, are pressing ahead with their programmes. An analysis by the Economist Intelligence Unit reported that a review of forecasts for the 10 largest nuclear power producers showed that the growth is likely to continue and that capacity will increase to 405 GW by 2020 within these countries.[17]

The nuclear sector in the UK

15. The nuclear sector in the UK consists of over 200 companies concerned with activities ranging from energy production to decommissioning and participation in the supply chain. In total, they employ around 44,000[18] people, making a significant contribution to the UK's economy.[19]

16. At present, the UK has 10 nuclear power stations in operation, generating around 10-12 GW, or 16% of the UK's electricity supply (down from 25% in the 1990s). It is anticipated that, in the next 15 years, all but one of the existing fleet will be closed. So far, industry has committed to building up to 16 GW of new plant by 2025, with EDF submitting the first bid to build a plant at Hinckley Point in October 2011.[20]

Spending on research

17. As Figure 1 demonstrates, there has been a significant decline in funding for nuclear fission R&D since the mid-1970s as a result of the shift away from the UK's involvement in reactor design. This reached a low in the 1990s to almost zero. The total spend has increased in recent years as a result of the new build programme and is estimated to be in the region of £11 million a year (£6.5m from the research councils and £4.5m from the Euratom programme), representing about 4% of total spend on energy R&D by the research councils. This is still low, however compared to £94 million[21] a year spent on the successful and world-leading fusion research programme (about £34m from the Research Councils and £60m from Euratom), representing roughly 23% of the total energy programme spend for 2010-11. This compares poorly with other countries within the OECD which spend significantly more, ranging from a low of 4.5% to a high of 63.1% of their total energy spend on nuclear fission R&D (see Table 1).

18. Recent reviews (such as the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and Science and Technology Facilities Council Review of Nuclear Physics and Engineering ("the EPSRC/STFC review") and the Review of Energy of the Research Councils UK ("the RCUK review"))[22] and the evidence we received from, for example, AMEC[23] indicate that the decline in funding over recent decades has caused the UK to move from "world leader and technology developer" to "niche player" (with the exception of fusion). Other countries, such as the United States and France, are now in the lead in terms of expertise.[24] In addition, countries such as China, India and South Korea are overtaking the UK through significant investments in research programmes to underpin their nuclear plans.[25]

19. Nevertheless, the UK has retained some residual strength in a number of areas built up from previous investments. These are discussed in paragraphs 20 to 22 below.

TABLE 1

Comparisons of government-funded research on energy and nuclear fission (figures for the latest available year[26])[27]

Country	Fission R&D (€M)	Total energy R&D (€M)	Fission R&D as proportion of total energy (%)	Date
Australia	8.214	184.524	4.5	2007
Belgium	39.442	97.184	40.6	2007
Canada	140.444	531.408	26.4	2009
Czech Republic	12.779	36.556	35.0	2009
Finland	9.452	170.606	5.5	2008
France	445.665	931.277	47.9	2008
Germany	41.98	563.715	7.4	2009
Italy	35.816	373.438	9.6	2007
Japan	1835.532	2907.79	63.1	2009
South Korea	131.998	323.456	40.8	2007
Netherlands	9.58	138.905	6.9	2006
Norway	9.163	127.781	7.2	2009
Spain	4.038	89.818	4.5	2009
Sweden	7.433	121.091	6.1	2009
Switzerland	16.574	118.674	14.0	2009
United Kingdom	4.493[28]	292.992	1.5	2009
USA	560.664	8466.969	6.6	2009

The UK's strengths in nuclear R&D and associated expertise

20. Despite the diminished role of nuclear energy in the UK in recent years, the UK has retained strengths in nuclear R&D capabilities and associated expertise across some areas. These have been shaped by historic R&D programmes and include "MOX fuel development, spent fuel management (pond storage and reprocessing), waste management, and decommissioning" and "gas-cooled reactor technology".[29] This breadth of knowledge acquired across the "whole fuel cycle" is considered by many to be the UK's "unique selling point".[30] However, as Professor Paul Howarth from NNL and others have stressed, given the small number of experts involved, the depth of knowledge within the UK is a cause for concern with only a few or often a single expert covering many areas of research.[31] Given the ageing demographic of the R&D workforce this is a cause for concern.[32] (This issue is considered further in paragraphs 92-99 below).

21. In 2010, the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) carried out a review of the UK's nuclear R&D capabilities entitled A Review of the UK's Nuclear R&D Capability ("the TSB review"). The review concluded that, although expertise had been allowed to decline the UK still had residual strengths in the following areas (some of which are applicable to Generation III and IV technologies):

Advanced modelling and analysis of reactor cores of all types;
Thermal hydraulics and major accident modelling;
Fuel design, manufacture and performance modelling;
Fuel enrichment and recycling;
Non-Destructive Evaluation and structural integrity of materials and structures;
Advanced construction methods;
Materials degradation;
Decontamination and decommissioning;
Waste treatment and management; and
Fuel cycle assessment.[33]

22. In addition, the UK's world-leading fusion programme, lead by the UK Atomic Energy Authority at Culham, involves many disciplines which are applicable to, and overlap with, fission research capabilities such as reactor physics, advanced structural materials and irradiation damage in materials.[34] Expertise developed through the UK's nuclear security R&D programme and the nuclear submarine programme also has relevance to the nuclear fission programme.[35]

FIGURE 3

The Civil Nuclear Fission Research Landscape

Source: Dr Michael Rushton, at the Centre for Nuclear Engineering at Imperial College London.

Where available, annual spend on R&D is provided.

FIGURE 4

The Nuclear Fission Research Funding Landscape: Overview of Technology Readiness Levels[36]

Organisations that fund or carry out nuclear R&D

23. Interactions between the bodies that fund or carry out nuclear R&D in the UK are complex (see Figures 3 and 4 on pages 19 and 20). Such responsibility as there is for co-ordinating and conducting different aspects of R&D is spread across numerous public and private bodies.

PRIVATE INDUSTRY

24. The nuclear industry relies on research capabilities to underpin their operations, not only to meet regulatory standards and ensure the safe and secure supply of energy, but also to develop new technologies, to make improvements to current technologies and to ensure a steady supply of skilled workers at both graduate level and above. The industry carries out a substantial amount of applied research and some fundamental research to support its requirements for plant operation including decommissioning and clean-up. EDF Energy, for example, spends in the order of €300 million on nuclear R&D a year, €25 million of which is spent in the UK.[37]

RESEARCH COUNCILS

25. The research councils are primarily responsible for fundamental research into fission energy, and decommissioning and waste, directed through either investigator-led (responsive-mode) grants or themed research programmes. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funds nuclear engineering research, and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), funds nuclear physics research and some of the major research facilities used in the UK for nuclear fission research, such as ISIS.[38] The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) also funds some work on waste and decommissioning, but at a much lower level.

26. Although most of the work in the nuclear physics programme funded by STFC does not relate to nuclear fission for energy generation, a small number of nuclear physicists are needed by the sector and physics departments provide valuable training. The research, skills and expertise required by the industry and regulator relate largely however to nuclear engineering.[39] Such research is primarily co-ordinated through the EPSRC-led energy programme (previously through the consortium grant, Keeping the Nuclear Option Open programme (KNOO)). Individual councils also fund relevant research through responsive-mode programmes and research for materials comes through the Materials, Mechanical and Medical Engineering programme of the EPSRC.[40]

27. As a result of the new build programme, the research councils have increased their funding for nuclear fission R&D in recent years from a very low base. The current spend is around £6.5 million a year (2009-10), up from about £128,000 in 2000-01 (see Table 2). This annual figure is set to increase by approximately £2 million a year over the next few years, with an overall current and forward commitment to programmes spanning a number of years of £59 million.[41] This is still significantly lower, however, than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average (see paragraphs 17 to 19).

TABLE 2

Annual Research Council spend on nuclear fission (£)[42]

2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-4	2004-5	2005-6	2006-7	2007-8	2008-9	2009-10
127,562	324,879	307,195	212,239	111,947	951,643	2,812,548	2,962,960	4,254,066	6,449,604

28. Waste and decommissioning research is funded through activities such as the DIAMOND (Decommissioning, Immobilisation and Management of Nuclear Wastes for Disposal) consortium grant, which totalled approximately £4 million over four years. NERC currently supports £4 million worth of responsive-mode grants in this area over a number of years. NERC also supports a portfolio of research into radioactive waste management at the British Geological Survey (BGS) with a budget of £170,000 for this year and a Radioecology Group at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology with a budget of approximately £380,000 for this year. In total it is estimated that the research councils spent about £3.7m in 2010/2011 on decommissioning, waste management and disposal (2.25m of which is included in the annual research council spend outlined in Table 2).[43]

UNIVERSITIES

29. Within the UK there are a number of universities which have continued to provide a good base in nuclear science and engineering research and training, despite the reduction in public funding. They include the University of Manchester (Dalton Institute), Imperial College London (Centre for Nuclear Engineering) and the Universities of Bristol and Oxford joint Nuclear Research Centre.[44] Groups of universities form broad research collaborations, often funded by the EPSRC, and sometimes include NNL or the Navy nuclear propulsion laboratory at HMS Sultan as a partner. Following the recent increase in funding from the EPSRC, a number of universities are now offering nuclear engineering and technology courses at either undergraduate or Masters-level. There are concerns however that they may not be enough to meet the needs of the sector. (This issue is discussed further in paragraphs 118 to 130 below).

OTHER PUBLIC BODIES

30. NNL is a Government-owned, contractor-operated (GoCo) body which carries out short-term applied commercially-focused research for its customers within the nuclear sector including the industry, the NDA and the Ministry of Defence (MoD). It also self-funds a small amount of longer-term applied research of relevance to its programme of work focused on meeting strategic national needs, amounting to £1 million a year (see paragraph 230 to 235 and 240 to 254).

31. The NDA has responsibility for the decommissioning and clean-up of the UK's civil nuclear reactors and for implementing geological disposal plans. It co-ordinates the majority of applied research work on waste management and disposal, primarily through its Site License Companies but also directly through research contractors, such as NNL, to meet its objectives. In 2009-10 it invested £11 million in R&D directly, with an estimated £110 million spent across the NDA estate by the Site Licensing Companies on technical underpinning work (see paragraphs 213 to 223).[45]

32. The Office of Nuclear Regulation (ONR) within the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) also co-ordinates safety work through plant operators and has the ability to fund some R&D on safety aspects of nuclear operation when it is not covered by the industry (see paragraphs 191 to 202).[46]

33. Near-market research (five to ten years from application) is carried out by the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (NAMRC) at the University of Sheffield, in partnership with the University of Manchester and industry partners. The Centre was established in 2010 to encourage the translation of research and the development of the supply chain for the nuclear industry (with £15 million of investment from the Strategic Investment Fund). The TSB has also put forward a £2 million call for feasibility studies to strengthen the UK supply chain with investment in the Technology Readiness Levels[47] (TRL) 3-6 in-between fundamental research and demonstration and application within industry, and intends to award a further £10 million to successful studies.

INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS

34. Due to the nature of nuclear research in terms of length of time, scale and cost of activities, most countries which conduct nuclear R&D participate in international collaborations in order to keep up with developments worldwide.[48] According to Westinghouse Electrical Company, the sheer scale of effort and expense required for the development of nuclear technologies and of geological disposal facilities makes such cooperation critical.[49]

35. The UK is currently involved in a number of international research programmes including the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) programme and, through Euratom, the Generation IV Forum (GIF). This is mainly however through individual researcher involvement as opposed to a more co-ordinated approach and it is argued that the UK should be more involved in these activities. The NDA has developed relationships with other countries on decommissioning and waste management to share experience and good practices,[50] and the ONR is also involved in international activities. The UK received around €21 million from the first four years of the current Euratom Framework Programme (equivalent to approximately £4.5 million a year).[51] (We discuss the roles of these bodies and UK limited involvement with them further in paragraphs 154 to 161 below.)

6 A Review of the UK's Nuclear R&D Capability, Sherry, A.H. et al, Technology Strategy Board, 2010. Back

7 The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is a Non-Departmental Public Body within the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).Originally formed in 1954 to carry out nuclear research for the Government, the Authority now manages the UK fusion research programme (Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, CCFE) and operates the Joint European Torus (JET) on behalf of the European Fusion Development Agreement at Culham, Oxfordshire. In 2008, the Authority announced the formation of a new wholly owned subsidiary, UKAEA Limited, to focus on nuclear decommissioning and environmental restoration management. In October 2009, Babcock International Group plc acquired UKAEA Limited. Thus, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and UKAEA Limited are now entirely separate entities. Back

8 NRD 23 Back

9 Reproduced by courtesy of NNL. Back

10 Nuclear Fission, Energy Research Partnership, September 2010. Back

11 NRD 23, 13, 22, 39, 44 Back

12 NRD 23 Back

13 Figure reproduced by courtesy of NNL. The remaining workforce at NNL consists of 780 staff, about 550 of whom are research staff, and 230 administration and technical support staff. Back

14 Nuclear Fission op.cit. Back

15 Ibid: Energy Technology Perspectives, Scenarios and strategies to 2050, IEA, 2010. Back

16 New Japan PM Noda in Nuclear Restart Call, BBC News Asia Pacific, 13 September 2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14895182. Back

17 The future of nuclear energy: One step back, two steps forward. A special report from the Economist Intelligence Unit, June 2011. Back