8 hours ago
Decision on Hartlepool's nuclear future could be made next year
A decision over whether to bring new nuclear reactors to a north-east power plant could be made next year, says local Labour nuclear power station is due to be decommissioned in March 2027, but private firm X-energy UK has drawn up plans to install and run 12 Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRs) on the site, which developers say will provide a "similar" amount of electricity to the current plant's power output.A company spokesperson highlighted the benefit of existing skills and land "already earmarked for nuclear".Jonathan Brash, MP for Hartlepool, said he was "very much hoping" for a final decision this year or in early 2026 - with the site up and running in the early 2030s.
The AMRs would be built externally and then installed on site to generate can be used as individual units, to power high-energy facilities like AI data centres, or combined in 'four-packs' to increase power generation more current plan is to install three 'four-packs' at the Hartlepool site, generating nearly 1GW of energy.
Nuclear investment
Brash said he believed Rachel Reeves' spending review had given a "huge boost" to the proposed plans."The Chancellor has set aside £30 billion for new nuclear investment," he pointed out."I'm very much hoping we can get some final decision in 2025 or early 2026. "If that comes to pass, there will be a few years for development, and in the early 2030s, we'll be up and running."X-energy's UK corporate affairs spokesperson, Leon Flexman, said Hartlepool was the right venue, capitalising on the region's nuclear know-how."It's a particular good location because of the existing nuclear power station, the expertise, the skills - and there is land available that is already earmarked for nuclear," he added AMRs create high-temperature steam, which could be used to de-carbonise Teesside's heavy polluting industries.
'Nuclear culture'
However some have raised concerns over the potential gap between the existing plant shutting down and the new AMRs becoming functional, even if the plans are Emden, from the Institute for Public Policy Research, said the government should act now to ensure skilled jobs and local nuclear expertise are protected."How do you make sure those high-paying, highly-skilled jobs in these power stations stay in the area? "With the promise of new nuclear - if indeed it is going to come," he saidEchoing Mr Emden, Chris Batty, a Unite trade union representative, said it was vital the skills and knowledge he and his colleagues at the nuclear power station have amassed are preserved."If we don't get a decision to get new nuclear power on this site we are going to lose all those skills. We are going to lose the nuclear culture."
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