Nuclear can give coal sites new lease of life

We’ve been turning off coal power stations for a long time, very slowly turning off the tap on an industry that gave Britain so much, not least the good, skilled, long-term jobs and investment which helped build and sustain whole communities. But instead of replacing these stations with new cleaner technologies, many remain untouched, just big old hulks and relics of a bygone era. To leave them like that would be a terrible waste.

The truth of the matter is that we should have been replacing dirty baseload coal a long time ago, not with fossil gas like we have been doing – which we’re racing to phase out too – but instead, with the only clean source of baseload power we have: nuclear.

Nuclear is the only like for like replacement for coal and gas which is zero-carbon. It’s weather-proof and available 24/7 and vital for our energy security and net zero targets. But instead of getting on with building new reactors, all we have done in the last decade is approve enough new nuclear to make up for the nuclear we have lost in the last 36 months as ageing stations come offline.

Former coal power sites like Aberthaw (pictured) in South Wales, and around 20 others, are perfect for new nuclear projects, with their excellent grid-connections and host communities built on industry that need new jobs and investment.

Aberthaw is a great case in point. The former 1.5 gigawatt station, the biggest in the world when it first opened in the 1960s, sits on a 500-acre site which was recently bought by CCR Energy, a private development company. I was lucky enough to visit the station recently and the site does have serious potential for nuclear development. It has everything you would need along with a dedicated team committed to go take the site on a coal-to-clean journey.

It’s already being talked about in the US, with a recent Department of Energy report concluding that shuttered coal plants and ones that will soon retire, could provide space for over 170 gigawatts of new nuclear power.

We should seriously be looking at doing the same in the UK and it will be a big missed opportunity if we don’t. And while it may seem like a no-brainer to explore utilising existing sites, there needs to be an honest and open conversation with communities about the various different options nuclear brings, from Small Modular Reactors to power towns and communities, including hospitals and schools, or even smaller Advanced Modular Reactors, to power heavy industry, data centres or even steel production. They all come with the promise of good, long-term jobs too, locked in for 70, 80, even 100 years plus.

Jobs and growth is what nuclear gives us. It’s why we need to see Sizewell C get to a Final Investment Decision and a clear plan for future projects at places like Wylfa, so we can add to the 87,000 people already working in the industry.

On growth, the latest economic impact assessment of our industry found that the Gross Value Added per full time equivalent nuclear worker was more than £100,000. The sector contributes £4.5 billion to the exchequer, and the overall multiplier of economic activity is 2.6, so for every £1 spent in the industry, an additional £1.60 of economic activity is created.

Becoming the first G7 nation to phase out coal is no mean feat, and whilst we haven’t made the same progress as France when it comes to clean power generation – it has one of the world’s cleanest power grids thanks to 65 gigawatts of nuclear – we are way ahead of many other major economies, including Germany, which has one of the EU’s dirtiest power grids due to a reliance on coal after it shut down several reactors early.

So amidst all the end of coal self-congratulation and backslapping, we should remember the knock on effect of this milestone on communities across Britain, which is why we should be advocating for a national coal-to-nuclear programme to bring back jobs, investment and opportunity to communities who can make the energy transition work.

Iolo James is the NIA’s Head of Communications.