Bradwell B nuclear power station
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Bradwell B is a proposed nuclear power station at Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex, put forward by
China General Nuclear Power Group China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) (), formerly China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group (), is a Chinese state-owned energy corporation under the SASAC of the State Council. In China, CGN operates nuclear plants at Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plan ...
(CGN). If constructed, the site will provide 2,200
MWe The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Watt ...
of
nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
from two UK HPR1000 reactors developed by CGN and the
China National Nuclear Corporation The China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC; ) is a state-owned enterprise founded in 1955 in Beijing. CNNC's president and vice-president are appointed by the Premier of the People's Republic of China. CNNC oversees all aspects of China's c ...
(CNNC). It will be located close to the decommissioned
Bradwell nuclear power station Bradwell nuclear power station is a decommissioned Magnox-design nuclear power station located on the Dengie peninsula at the mouth of the River Blackwater, Essex. In 2019, it was the first nuclear power station in the UK to be placed into long- ...
.


History

In January 2008, the UK government gave the go ahead to construct new nuclear power stations in the UK, with all sites being located adjacent to existing power stations. The government followed this decision in 2010 by selecting ten sites, including Bradwell, at which companies could develop nuclear power stations; this was reduced to eight by October 2010. In 2013, CGN entered negotiations with
EDF Energy EDF Energy is a British integrated energy company, wholly owned by the French state-owned EDF (Électricité de France), with operations spanning electricity generation and the sale of natural gas and electricity to homes and businesses through ...
to invest in the UK's nuclear industry. Out of these negotiations, which ended in 2015, agreements were made relating to
Hinkley Point C Hinkley Point C nuclear power station (HPC) is a two-unit, 3,200MWe EPR nuclear power station under construction in Somerset, England. The site was one of eight announced by the British government in 2010, and in November 2012 a nuclear site ...
and Sizewell C, as well as Bradwell B, which led to EDF Energy taking a majority share in both the Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C projects and CGN taking a 66.5% majority share in the Bradwell B project. The agreement also led to CGN bringing its own technology to the Bradwell B project, with the Chinese designed and developed
Hualong One The Hualong One ( zh , c=华龙一号 , p=Huálóng yī hào , l=China Dragon №1) is a Chinese Generation III pressurized water nuclear reactor jointly developed by the China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) and the China National Nuclear Cor ...
reactor expected to be used. On 19 January 2017, the United Kingdom
Office for Nuclear Regulation The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) is the regulator for the nuclear industry in the United Kingdom.< ...
started its
Generic Design Assessment The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) is the regulator for the nuclear industry in the United Kingdom.< ...
process for the
Hualong One The Hualong One ( zh , c=华龙一号 , p=Huálóng yī hào , l=China Dragon №1) is a Chinese Generation III pressurized water nuclear reactor jointly developed by the China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) and the China National Nuclear Cor ...
reactor, expected to be completed in 2021, in advance of possible deployment at the Bradwell B site. In November 2020, it was announced that the HPR1000 reactor design had successfully passed all the steps of the compliance analysis against the European Utility Requirements Document. CGN has planned for the project to have a two-stage consultation programme. The stage 1 consultation started on 4 March and ended on 1 July 2020. CGN applied to
Ofgem , type = Non-ministerial government department , nativename = , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ofgem logo.svg , logo_width = 124px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_widt ...
for an electricity generating licence in June 2020; this was granted on 16 December 2020. By 2021, the British government's attitude to the involvement of China in British nuclear power had changed following the worsening of
China–United Kingdom relations Chinese-United Kingdom relations (), more commonly known as British–Chinese relations, Anglo-Chinese relations and Sino-British relations, are the interstate relations between China (with its various governments through history) and the United ...
, and it was exploring ways to block Chinese involvement in the development. In February 2022, the UK HPR1000 reactor completed its General Design Assessment process after the ONR issued a Design Acceptance Confirmation (DAC) and the Environment Agency issued a Statement of Design Acceptability (SoDA) for the design.


Timeline


Funding

Funding for the Bradwell B project would be provided by CGN and EDF Energy, who will have during the development phase of the project 66.5% and 33.5% stakes in the project. As of 21 July 2020, the consortium is looking towards the government for financial backing with the Regulated Asset Base model, which the consortium will discuss at the appropriate time.


Construction

Construction of the project is expected to take between nine and 12 years, with it taking nine years to build and commission the reactors, and three additional years for site restoration. The construction phase is expected to create tens of thousands of jobs, with an additional 3,000 local jobs at the peak of construction. The project, once operational, is expected to create 900 jobs, which will increase by 1000 during outages, which are expected to occur around every 18 months during operation. Construction would take place in five main stages: * Stage 1 - Site preparation (24–36 months): involving excavation and major earthworks as well as construction of temporary roads, bulk material delivery facilities, canteens, medical facilities and parking. * Stage 2 - Civil construction (29–38 months): including major building construction and installation of the reactor dome. * Stage 3 - Installation (27–33 months): installing the main components of the power station and creating the systems needed for commissioning. * Stage 4 - Commissioning (14–20 months): including testing, fuel loading, and synchronisation to the grid before handover to operations. * Stage 5 - Site restoration (24–36 months): completing landscaping works and restoring parts of the site around the facility that are not needed during operation. Removal of temporary construction facilities will also occur during this period.


Design

The Bradwell B project uses two HPR1000 UK reactors which are developed by CGN and CNNC. The reactor is designed with a power output of 1,170MWe gross, 1,090MWe net, with a 60-year design life, and would use a combination of passive and active safety systems with a double containment. The reference plant for Bradwell B is units 3 and 4 of
Fangchenggang Nuclear Power Plant Fangchenggang Nuclear Power Plant (), also known as Fangchenggang Hongsha Nuclear Power Plant ( 防城港红沙核电站 ), is a nuclear power plant in Fangchenggang, near Hongshacun Village ( 红沙村 ), autonomous region of Guangxi (Guangxi Z ...
currently under construction in
Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.


Criticism

In 2016, the US Justice Department charged CGN with stealing nuclear secrets from the United States. ''The Guardian'' reported: "According to the US Department of Justice, the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
has discovered evidence that China General Nuclear Power (CGN) has been engaged in a conspiracy to steal US nuclear secrets stretching back almost two decades. Both CGN and one of the corporation's senior advisers, Szuhsiung Ho, have been charged with conspiring to help the Chinese government develop nuclear material in a manner that is in clear breach of US law." As a result of this, the USA has expressed concern over CGN taking a stake in the UK's nuclear industry, and is strongly opposed to the Bradwell B project as CGN will be the main developer in the project, whereas in past projects it has been a funding partner. Concerns were once again raised in 2020, this time by a senior Conservative MP, about CGN having a role in the UK's infrastructure, following the UK government's decision to exclude another Chinese firm,
Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various smar ...
from the UK's 5G infrastructure over espionage concerns. Following this, nuclear industry executives confirmed that the Bradwell B project is also of major concern, especially within the Conservative government. The ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
'' reported on 6 August 2020 that a group of 'rebel Conservative MPs' are now turning their attention to the Bradwell B project as well as CGN's involvement in the Sizewell C project, following success at reversing the government's stance on Huawei. The article claimed that at a private meeting with MPs last month, CGN's activities were raised with the
United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...
,
Mike Pompeo Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American politician, diplomat, and businessman who served under President Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2017 to 2018 and as the 70th United State ...
. The article also claims that the senior Conservative MP,
Iain Duncan Smith Sir George Iain Duncan Smith (born George Ian Duncan Smith; 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003. He was S ...
, has called for a review of nuclear contracts as he claims that China is not a "trusted vendor", and has compared the UK's dealings with Beijing to 1930s
appeasement Appeasement in an international context is a diplomatic policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power in order to avoid conflict. The term is most often applied to the foreign policy of the UK governm ...
of
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. Concerns over CGN's involvement in the project continued to be raised by Duncan Smith, who was reported saying in ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'' that "Our energy policy is in the hands of the Chinese, Just in that one sector, we have complete domination by China when we should be strategically reviewing it". It was also reported in the Asia Times that Steve Thomas, a professor of energy policy at London's University of Greenwich, said that CGN's ambitions in the UK were "an important step" in presenting the Chinese group's technology to the world, and that "All CGN wanted from the UK was the prestige and endorsement". With CGN being the lead partner in the Bradwell project, Thomas said that UK approval "will be a political decision" as to whether the project continues. Thomas also said that if the project is cancelled, it could threaten CGN's involvement in Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C depending on whether it wants to "punish" the UK or not. In September 2020, following Hitachi's decision to withdraw from the
Wylfa Wylfa nuclear power station ( cy, Atomfa'r Wylfa) is a Magnox nuclear power station undergoing decommissioning. Wylfa is situated west of Cemaes Bay on the island of Anglesey, off the northwestern coast of Wales. Construction of the two 490MW n ...
and Oldbury projects, the BBC reported that the UK government was looking to replace CGN as an investor at Sizewell C, and that CGN was unlikely to be allowed to proceed with Bradwell B "given revived security concerns and deteriorating diplomatic relations".


See also

*
Nuclear power in the United Kingdom Nuclear power in the United Kingdom generated 16.1% of the country's electricity in 2020. , the UK has 9 operational nuclear reactors at five locations (8 advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGR) and one pressurised water reactor (PWR)), producing 5. ...
*
Energy policy of the United Kingdom The energy policy of the United Kingdom refers to the United Kingdom's efforts towards reducing energy intensity, reducing energy poverty, and maintaining energy supply reliability. The United Kingdom has had success in this, though energy int ...
*
Energy in the United Kingdom Energy in the United Kingdom came mostly from fossil fuels in 2021. Total energy consumption in the United Kingdom was 142.0milliontonnes of oil equivalent (1,651TWh) in 2019. In 2014, the UK had an energy consumption ''per capita'' of 2.78ton ...
* List of nuclear reactors#United Kingdom *
Proposed nuclear power stations in the United Kingdom Nuclear power in the United Kingdom generated 16.1% of the country's electricity in 2020. , the UK has 9 operational nuclear reactors at five locations (8 advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGR) and one pressurised water reactor (PWR)), producing 5. ...
*
Hinkley Point C nuclear power station Hinkley Point C nuclear power station (HPC) is a two-unit, 3,200MWe EPR nuclear power station under construction in Somerset, England. The site was one of eight announced by the British government in 2010, and in November 2012 a nuclear site ...


References

{{British nuclear power plants Buildings and structures in Essex Proposed nuclear power stations in the United Kingdom Proposed power stations in England Électricité de France Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (United Kingdom)