Experts from across the finance, nuclear, construction and manufacturing sectors assembled in Coventry this week (Monday 5 and Tuesday 6 November 2018) to explore taking smaller nuclear reactors from concept to construction.

The cutting-edge Manufacturing and Technology Centre (MTC) in Coventry will host around 200 delegates from across the UK to discuss the commercialisation of small modular nuclear reactors – innovative small nuclear power stations that could radically reduce the costs associated with the nuclear sector. The first small reactors could be built as soon as 2030, with potential for exports worldwide.

To help commercialise these revolutionary reactors, Nuclear Energy Minister Richard Harrington today (Tuesday 6 November) announced the next crucial steps, including:

• inviting developers to submit design proposals to identify potential risks with proposals early on, reducing investment risks for potential backers
• setting out a how a £32 million Advanced Manufacturing and Construction Programme will allow companies to bid for funds to test new technologies, ironing out potential flaws before they start producing at scale.

Nuclear Energy Minister Richard Harrington said:

Hosting this first ever conference, bringing together more than 200 influencers from across the industry, demonstrates our commitment to enhancing our world-leading nuclear sector.

Increasing competitiveness both nationally and regionally in the sector is part of our modern Industrial Strategy, and this summit could help UK industry seize the global challenge of taking this new generation of new nuclear power from concept to construction.

Delegates at this first-ever government SMR conference will discuss the investment opportunities of small reactors, as well as seeing working examples of the technology in practice and attending a series of networking events workshops and keynote speeches.

Clean, secure nuclear energy already provides a reliable source of low-carbon electricity for our economy: in 2016, nuclear energy provided 20% of our electricity in the UK, as well as providing the reliable bedrock upon which other clean sources such as renewables can thrive. These new small reactors, which can be built in factories off-site, could be placed on a footprint similar in size to a football stadium and add to the UK’s diverse low-carbon energy mix.

Earlier this year, the Expert Finance Working Group presented its findings to government about how SMRs could be financed, laying the groundwork for the sustainable environment needed for small nuclear technologies to come forward. The Group reported that the UK could be well placed to develop these “First of a Kind” small reactor projects and that they could be commercially viable propositions.

These ground-breaking technologies have the potential to deliver some of the key objectives of the government’s modern Industrial Strategy and Nuclear Sector Deal, namely meeting the commitment from industry to reduce the cost of new nuclear build projects, as well as unlocking vast growth opportunities for a thriving supply chain that supports small nuclear projects in the UK.

Fiona Reilly, chair of the independent Expert Finance Working Group, said:

I am delighted to see BEIS delivering on its commitment made in the sector deal to bring together vendors, utilities and energy intensive users at this event at this important time for the UK nuclear industry. Building on the trust and confidence in the UK market, this crucial event allows the opportunity for the finance sector and other stakeholders to understand the features of small nuclear.

These special features, innovative designs deploying truly modular factory construction, when taken together with the market framework envisaged by the Expert Finance Working Group, could result in these stakeholders, and particularly the finance sector coming together to develop credible commercial propositions

Tom Greatrex, Chief Executive of the UK’s Nuclear Industry Association said:

Small modular reactors have the potential to play an important role as one element of the low carbon power supply we will need to power homes, businesses, cars, schools and hospitals. They are complementary to both large scale, secure and reliable nuclear power plants and intermittent and variable wind and solar power. With the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union fast approaching, the future opportunity to export UK based technology to international markets, also make smaller reactors worthy of serious interest from the UK government.

Andrew Storer, Chief Executive Officer of the Nuclear AMRC, said:

We’re pleased to support this important event and help government and industry realise the UK’s ambitions for the nuclear sector. The advanced manufacturing technologies we’re developing at the Nuclear AMRC will play a vital role in ensuring that new reactor designs are manufactured to cost and schedule, enabling the UK to take a global lead in commercialising small reactors, with huge opportunities for companies across the country.

At the Nuclear AMRC, we’re already working with around 1,000 manufacturers across the UK to help them compete in the worldwide nuclear sector, and we welcome the government’s continuing support for the new generation of clean affordable power.

The event in Coventry follows a recent visit from Secretary of State Greg Clark to the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (Nuclear AMRC) in Sheffield on 25 October 2018, where the Business Secretary met apprentices and staff developing this cutting-edge technology. Prototype SMR parts produced at the Nuclear AMRC as part of collaborative research with Sheffield Forgemasters and international partners will be exhibited at the conference in Coventry, showcasing local talent and aspiration to be part of this UK small nuclear revolution.

1. In June 2018 the government launched the Nuclear Sector Deal outlining its shared ambition for the UK nuclear industry in the UK as part of the modern Industrial Strategy.

2. The deal announced an ambitious new framework for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) to enable the commercialisation of these technologies in the UK and signalled a step up in pace and ambition for advanced nuclear technologies policy. The framework consists of initiatives covering:

a. the Advanced Manufacturing and Construction Programme

b. the work of the UK Regulators to further improve the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process for assessing the safety, security and environmental acceptability of new nuclear reactor designs

c. financing, including the work of the Expert Finance Working Group

d. development of the SMR supply chain

e. the Advanced Modular Reactor (AMR) Competition

f. development of the siting and land access process for SMRs

3. Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are part of the advanced nuclear technology sector which covers a range of new innovations under development. Modular Reactors are smaller than conventional nuclear power station reactors and are designed so that much of the plant can be built in a factory and transported to site for construction. They usually fall into 2 categories – either water-cooled reactors similar to existing nuclear power station reactors but on a smaller scale (known as SMRs), or Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRs) which use new cooling systems or fuels and potentially offer new uses for nuclear energy.

4. In the Nuclear Sector Deal, government committed to facilitating an event to bring together vendors, utilities, energy intensive users and the finance sector to further develop credible commercial propositions that could be financed by the private sector. The Commercialisation of Small Nuclear in the UK event is the fulfilment of this commitment.

5. The UK Nuclear Regulators are:

• the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR)
• the Environment Agency (EA)
• Natural Resources Wales (NRW)

They will commence Generic Design Assessment (GDA) of new small reactors next year. With the government expectation that all future designs will go through this process, all interested parties will be able to register interest this year with BEIS, and applications for GDA entry will be accepted for review by government from early next year – crucial next steps on this journey.

6. The £32 million Advanced Manufacturing and Construction Programme was announced in the Nuclear Sector Deal. It comprises up to £20 million of government funding, intended to leverage at least £12 million from industry. Government is commencing immediately on a process to work with the sector at all levels to develop the programme and mutually beneficial terms for the grant calls. Dependent upon the progress of that work, we will aim to provide more detail on the grant call and launch a competitive process before the end of the year. The programme will be open to all parts of the sector – nuclear new build, decommissioning and advanced nuclear. Cutting edge manufacturing techniques, modularisation and factory build are key to making small reactors cost effective. Such techniques are being actively developed and demonstrated in places like the MTC and the Nuclear AMRC. But – again for the first time – we will be inviting nuclear companies to commission and make real components (to nuclear regulatory standards) using these techniques to prove the contribution they can make to cost savings (and give further confidence to potential investors).

7. About the Nuclear AMRC

The Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre helps UK manufacturers win work in the nuclear sector. It works with companies of all sizes to develop new technical capabilities, raise quality and reduce risk. The Nuclear AMRC is backed by industry leaders and government, and managed by the University of Sheffield. It is part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult.

8. Find out more about the independent Expert Finance Working Group

9. More detail about the UK Government’s support for advanced nuclear technologies

10. Press office contact at BEIS:

11. Press office contact at Environment Agency:

12. Press office contact at ONR:

I attended the informal meeting of members of the Transport and Environment Councils in Graz, Austria on 29 and 30 October.

The programme for the Informal meetings included separate sessions for Transport and Environment Ministers and a joint session for both Ministers entitled ‘Starting a new era: clean, safe and affordable mobility for Europe’.

On 29 October, Transport Ministers were invited to discuss the Commission’s proposal on ‘Discontinuing seasonal changes of time (summer time)’. My Noble Friend, The Rt Hon Lord Henley, (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) represented the UK at this session and explained that the UK government does not support the proposed directive. He also noted the Commission had fallen short on the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality as has been highlighted by the decision of the House of Lords to issue a reasoned opinion. (The House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee has subsequently recommended that the House of Commons also issue a reasoned opinion on this matter.)

There was broad consensus in Council that the timetable proposed by the Commission was too short and thus there was widespread support for the Presidency’s intention to provide for an extension. A small minority of Member States were notably critical of the proposal while the majority welcomed the initiative, albeit noting its deficiencies. Several Member States advocated the need to coordinate across borders in order to know the final time zone arrangements before taking the decision to abolish daylight saving.

Environment Ministers were then invited to discuss ‘The Future of European Environmental Policy’. The Secretary of State for the Environment was represented by officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Ministers broadly agreed on the need for an eighth Environment Action Programme (EAP) with a consensus that it should take full account of climate change given the Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on Global Warming of 1.5 Celsius published last month.

At the joint session for Transport and Environment Ministers on 30 October, interventions were wide-ranging with common themes being the need to move towards zero emissions vehicles and enabling people to choose sustainable ways to travel. These themes were reflected in the Presidency’s ‘Graz Declaration’ published after the meeting. For the UK, I stressed the importance of ambition to accelerate the development and introduction of zero emission vehicles, recalling that the Prime Minister had hosted the world’s first zero emission vehicle summit in Birmingham recently.

The subject for the afternoon session was road safety. Transport Ministers shared experiences with progress to date in reducing casualties and their perception of the challenges in making more progress. In my intervention I noted that human error was a factor in over 85% of road accidents, and that connected and automated vehicles offered opportunities to make our roads safer.

In the margins I met with a number of EU Transport Ministers to discuss current EU transport business and how relationships will evolve as the UK leaves the EU.

More colleges will benefit from a multi-million pound initiative to drive improvements across further education as the second round of the Strategic College Improvement Fund (SCIF) launches today (6 November).

The Government is transforming technical education in this country, introducing new, gold standard T Levels from 2020 – the technical equivalent to A Levels – and supporting the creation of more high quality apprenticeships.

The SCIF was launched in June 2018 following calls from the sector for a peer-to-peer support programme where stronger colleges help weaker ones to improve. It follows a successful pilot phase, which saw fourteen colleges receive grants totaling over £2million. Outcomes from the pilot showed strong support for the partnership model, and led to colleges reporting that the fund helped build awareness of good practice, fostered mutual learning and enabled rapid action to improve quality.

Alongside the National Leaders of Further Education and National Leaders of Governance programmes, the £15 million SCIF is playing a vital role helping to share best practice, expertise and boost standards so more people can access high quality education and training. Colleges in need of support can apply for funding to work with a stronger ‘partnering’ college to tackle the issues they face and improve quality.

Apprenticeships and Skills Minister Anne Milton said:

Colleges are an extremely important part of our education system, and are absolutely central to our technical education reforms. They play an essential role in making sure people of all ages and backgrounds have the skills they need to get on in life.

I’m thrilled to invite even more colleges to apply for funding from the SCIF. By working together with top colleges, they will get the support they need to make sure their learners get the very best education and training. This will mean more opportunities for people right across the country to access high-quality education and training.

David Corke, Director of Policy at the Association of Colleges, said:

We’ve been working closely with the Government on this initiative and it’s now great to see the development of a peer improvement programme from a sector capacity and capability point of view. It is important to continue to share best practice and look at ways we can continually drive up quality within the sector.

Sixth Form Colleges Association Chief Executive Bill Watkin said:

The Strategic College Improvement Fund has already made a difference to several colleges and the students who attend them, with its focus on identifying where needs are and how those needs can best be met. The SCIF is a valuable framework that supports the sharing of good practice, ensuring that areas for development can be addressed through collaborative approaches with well-matched partners.

We are delighted that Round 2 has been launched and highly recommend that colleges take this opportunity to work with each other to raise, and sustain, standards across the sector.

Deputy Further Education Commissioner SCIF Lead Teresa Kelly said:

It is very exciting that the SCIF has been taken up so positively by the sector and is proving to be a significant tool for quality improvement in colleges. Through the SCIF many colleges are now harnessing the best practice that exists within the sector and applying proven best practice in order to improve the quality of their offer and provision.

The SCIF is enabling colleges to deep dive into developing and improving practical classroom based teaching techniques that will improve the student experience and ultimately the overall performance of the sector.

The list of successful colleges and their partners from the first application round will be published later this month.