108-650: Great British Nuclear (GBN), formerly British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL), is a nuclear energy and fuels company owned by the UK Government . It is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero . From its creation in 1971 to 2010, it functioned as a manufacturer of nuclear fuel (notably MOX ), ran reactors, generated and sold electricity, reprocessed and managed spent fuel (mainly at Sellafield ), and decommissioned nuclear plants and other similar facilities. It
216-650: A National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL). In October 2006, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry , Alistair Darling confirmed the NNL would be formed out of Nexia Solutions and the British Technology Centre at Sellafield. The NNL was launched in July 2008 as a Government-owned company, and initially was managed under contract by a consortium of Serco , Battelle and the University of Manchester ; this
324-403: A neutron hits the nucleus of a uranium-235 or plutonium atom, it can split the nucleus into two smaller nuclei, which is a nuclear fission reaction. The reaction releases energy and neutrons. The released neutrons can hit other uranium or plutonium nuclei, causing new fission reactions, which release more energy and more neutrons. This is called a chain reaction . In most commercial reactors,
432-496: A nuclear renaissance , an increase in the construction of new reactors, due to concerns about carbon dioxide emissions . During this period, newer generation III reactors , such as the EPR began construction. Prospects of a nuclear renaissance were delayed by another nuclear accident. The 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident was caused by the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami , one of
540-448: A public limited company as British Nuclear Fuels plc, wholly owned by the UK government. Its US subsidiary BNFL, Inc. was established in 1990 and specialised in decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear sites. In 1996, seven advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGR) and one pressurised water reactor (PWR) were privatised as British Energy , raising £2.1 billion. The oldest reactors,
648-877: A base at the nuclear reprocessing plant in Sellafield, but in 1998 moved into Carlisle Kingmoor depot which had been disused since 1987. A second depot was opened at Crewe Gresty Bridge in March 2007. This is on the site of a former wagon works. It also operates the Motherwell depot , where it carries out inspection work and re-fuelling. The initial fleet of locomotives were five Class 20/3s which were overhauled at Brush Traction , Loughborough for their new duties. In 1997, six Class 37/6s were purchased from international high speed passenger operator Eurostar . DRS would later build up an extensive fleet of Class 37 and 47 locomotives from various sources. In 2001,
756-417: A broadcaster), for $ 1.1 billion. Westinghouse's businesses are fuel manufacture, decommissioning of nuclear sites and reactor design, construction and servicing. Westinghouse was acquired as a possible core for the privatisation of a portion of BNFL. In 2000, BNFL also purchased the nuclear businesses of ABB for £300 million. This company, which was merged into Westinghouse, had nuclear interests in
864-527: A five-year contract under which it provided Class 47 locomotives to haul the Northern Belle , a luxury passenger train. By 2013, the company was operating 140 passenger charters annually, roughly 100 of which were for the Northern Belle. By April 2018, the train was being hauled by Class 57s operated by West Coast Railways , the owner of the Northern Belle, instead. On 9 January 2012,
972-410: A low-level waste disposal site. In countries with nuclear power, radioactive wastes account for less than 1% of total industrial toxic wastes, much of which remains hazardous for long periods. Overall, nuclear power produces far less waste material by volume than fossil-fuel based power plants. Coal-burning plants, in particular, produce large amounts of toxic and mildly radioactive ash resulting from
1080-742: A newly created NDA division, Nuclear Transport Solutions (NTS). During 2006, DRS started a new service, the Tesco Express , on behalf of the Eddie Stobart Group in partnership with Tesco , the UK's largest food retailer, to move containers from Daventry north to Mossend and Inverness using a new dedicated low-emission Class 66 locomotive in Eddie Stobart livery, 66411 Eddie the Engine . A daily service from Grangemouth to Inverness followed in 2009, with another Class 66 in
1188-581: A number of Class 33s were purchased. During 2004, three Class 87s were trialed, but returned to their leasing company after six months. During 2008, DRS initiated efforts to acquire Class 57 locomotives; by 2013, it operated nine former Freightliner 57/0s as well as 12 former Virgin Trains 57/3s. On 12 September 2013, it was announced that DRS would be the launch customer for the new Vossloh Euro Dual dual-mode freight locomotive by Vossloh España . These would become Class 88 . DRS took delivery of
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#17327879897191296-531: A promotional livery, this time 66414 James the Engine . The Daventry – Scotland Stobart contract transferred to DB Schenker in January 2010, along with the onward daily service to Inverness, though this reverted to DRS operation in summer 2011. In January 2022, DRS and Tesco signed a three-year extension deal; by this point, the company was transporting roughly 12,000 containers for Tesco per month. As of 2021, DRS has stated its intention to grow its presence in
1404-533: A reactor. Spent thorium fuel, although more difficult to handle than spent uranium fuel, may present somewhat lower proliferation risks. The nuclear industry also produces a large volume of low-level waste , with low radioactivity, in the form of contaminated items like clothing, hand tools, water purifier resins, and (upon decommissioning) the materials of which the reactor itself is built. Low-level waste can be stored on-site until radiation levels are low enough to be disposed of as ordinary waste, or it can be sent to
1512-1087: A shortage near the end of the century. A 2017 study by researchers from MIT and WHOI found that "at the current consumption rate, global conventional reserves of terrestrial uranium (approximately 7.6 million tonnes) could be depleted in a little over a century". Limited uranium-235 supply may inhibit substantial expansion with the current nuclear technology. While various ways to reduce dependence on such resources are being explored, new nuclear technologies are considered to not be available in time for climate change mitigation purposes or competition with alternatives of renewables in addition to being more expensive and require costly research and development. A study found it to be uncertain whether identified resources will be developed quickly enough to provide uninterrupted fuel supply to expanded nuclear facilities and various forms of mining may be challenged by ecological barriers, costs, and land requirements. Researchers also report considerable import dependence of nuclear energy. Unconventional uranium resources also exist. Uranium
1620-405: A significant effect on countries, such as France and Japan , which had relied more heavily on oil for electric generation to invest in nuclear power. France would construct 25 nuclear power plants over the next 15 years, and as of 2019, 71% of French electricity was generated by nuclear power, the highest percentage by any nation in the world. Some local opposition to nuclear power emerged in
1728-502: A trial service was introduced for six weeks by the NDA for its workers, with DRS supplying a Class 37 to haul four Mark 2 carriages between Carlisle and Sellafield . Although the trial was reported to have been a success, plans to introduce regular services from December 2012 did not materialise until May 2015. To operate these services, DRS purchased a fleet of Mark 2 carriages and had these overhauled at Eastleigh Works . In May 2015,
1836-425: A typical nuclear power station are often stored on site in dry cask storage vessels. Presently, waste is mainly stored at individual reactor sites and there are over 430 locations around the world where radioactive material continues to accumulate. Disposal of nuclear waste is often considered the most politically divisive aspect in the lifecycle of a nuclear power facility. The lack of movement of nuclear waste in
1944-490: Is high-level radioactive waste . While its radioactivity decreases exponentially, it must be isolated from the biosphere for hundreds of thousands of years, though newer technologies (like fast reactors ) have the potential to significantly reduce this. Because the spent fuel is still mostly fissionable material, some countries (e.g. France and Russia ) reprocess their spent fuel by extracting fissile and fertile elements for fabrication into new fuel, although this process
2052-408: Is spent nuclear fuel , which is considered high-level waste . For Light Water Reactors (LWRs), spent fuel is typically composed of 95% uranium, 4% fission products , and about 1% transuranic actinides (mostly plutonium , neptunium and americium ). The fission products are responsible for the bulk of the short-term radioactivity, whereas the plutonium and other transuranics are responsible for
2160-725: Is 89%. Most new reactors under construction are generation III reactors in Asia. Proponents contend that nuclear power is a safe, sustainable energy source that reduces carbon emissions . This is because nuclear power generation causes one of the lowest levels of fatalities per unit of energy generated compared to other energy sources. Coal, petroleum, natural gas and hydroelectricity have each caused more fatalities per unit of energy due to air pollution and accidents . Nuclear power plants also emit no greenhouse gases and result in less life-cycle carbon emissions than common "renewables". The radiological hazards associated with nuclear power are
2268-486: Is a fairly common element in the Earth's crust: it is approximately as common as tin or germanium , and is about 40 times more common than silver . Uranium is present in trace concentrations in most rocks, dirt, and ocean water, but is generally economically extracted only where it is present in relatively high concentrations. Uranium mining can be underground, open-pit , or in-situ leach mining. An increasing number of
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#17327879897192376-461: Is also produced during plant decommissioning. There are two broad categories of nuclear waste: low-level waste and high-level waste. The first has low radioactivity and includes contaminated items such as clothing, which poses limited threat. High-level waste is mainly the spent fuel from nuclear reactors, which is very radioactive and must be cooled and then safely disposed of or reprocessed. The most important waste stream from nuclear power reactors
2484-489: Is also safer in terms of nuclear proliferation potential. Reprocessing has the potential to recover up to 95% of the uranium and plutonium fuel in spent nuclear fuel, as well as reduce long-term radioactivity within the remaining waste. However, reprocessing has been politically controversial because of the potential for nuclear proliferation and varied perceptions of increasing the vulnerability to nuclear terrorism . Reprocessing also leads to higher fuel cost compared to
2592-498: Is considered the worst nuclear disaster in history both in total casualties, with 56 direct deaths, and financially, with the cleanup and the cost estimated at 18 billion Rbls (US$ 68 billion in 2019, adjusted for inflation). The international organization to promote safety awareness and the professional development of operators in nuclear facilities, the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO),
2700-410: Is contained within sixteen casks. It is estimated that to produce a lifetime supply of energy for a person at a western standard of living (approximately 3 GWh ) would require on the order of the volume of a soda can of low enriched uranium , resulting in a similar volume of spent fuel generated. Following interim storage in a spent fuel pool , the bundles of used fuel rod assemblies of
2808-621: Is currently done in France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, and India. In the United States, spent nuclear fuel is currently not reprocessed. The La Hague reprocessing facility in France has operated commercially since 1976 and is responsible for half the world's reprocessing as of 2010. It produces MOX fuel from spent fuel derived from several countries. More than 32,000 tonnes of spent fuel had been reprocessed as of 2015, with
2916-405: Is in the commissioning phase, with plans to build more. Another alternative to fast-neutron breeders are thermal-neutron breeder reactors that use uranium-233 bred from thorium as fission fuel in the thorium fuel cycle . Thorium is about 3.5 times more common than uranium in the Earth's crust, and has different geographic characteristics. India's three-stage nuclear power programme features
3024-641: Is known as a GOCO (Government-Owned, Contractor-Operated) arrangement. Control of BNFL's one third stake in Urenco was transferred to the Shareholder Executive in April 2008 through Enrichment Holdings Ltd while the government explored the possibility of selling the stake. BNFL's one third stake of AWE Management Ltd was sold to Jacobs Engineering Group in December 2008. AWE is responsible for
3132-424: Is more expensive than producing new fuel from mined uranium . All reactors breed some plutonium-239 , which is found in the spent fuel, and because Pu-239 is the preferred material for nuclear weapons , reprocessing is seen as a weapon proliferation risk. The first nuclear power plant was built in the 1950s. The global installed nuclear capacity grew to 100 GW in the late 1970s, and then expanded during
3240-521: Is much less radioactive than spent nuclear fuel by weight, coal ash is produced in much higher quantities per unit of energy generated. It is also released directly into the environment as fly ash , whereas nuclear plants use shielding to protect the environment from radioactive materials. Nuclear waste volume is small compared to the energy produced. For example, at Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Station , which generated 44 billion kilowatt hours of electricity when in service, its complete spent fuel inventory
3348-478: Is naturally present in seawater at a concentration of about 3 micrograms per liter, with 4.4 billion tons of uranium considered present in seawater at any time. In 2014 it was suggested that it would be economically competitive to produce nuclear fuel from seawater if the process was implemented at large scale. Like fossil fuels, over geological timescales, uranium extracted on an industrial scale from seawater would be replenished by both river erosion of rocks and
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3456-617: Is the reactor-grade plutonium (RGPu) that is extracted from spent fuel. It is mixed with uranium oxide and fabricated into mixed-oxide or MOX fuel . Because thermal LWRs remain the most common reactor worldwide, this type of recycling is the most common. It is considered to increase the sustainability of the nuclear fuel cycle, reduce the attractiveness of spent fuel to theft, and lower the volume of high level nuclear waste. Spent MOX fuel cannot generally be recycled for use in thermal-neutron reactors. This issue does not affect fast-neutron reactors , which are therefore preferred in order to achieve
3564-630: 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 by nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium in nuclear power plants . Nuclear decay processes are used in niche applications such as radioisotope thermoelectric generators in some space probes such as Voyager 2 . Reactors producing controlled fusion power have been operated since 1958, but have yet to generate net power and are not expected to be commercially available in
3672-458: Is then converted into a compact ore concentrate form, known as yellowcake (U 3 O 8 ), to facilitate transport. Fission reactors generally need uranium-235 , a fissile isotope of uranium . The concentration of uranium-235 in natural uranium is low (about 0.7%). Some reactors can use this natural uranium as fuel, depending on their neutron economy . These reactors generally have graphite or heavy water moderators. For light water reactors,
3780-549: The Class 57 and Class 88 locomotives, have been acquired by DRS during the 2010s. In 2005, DRS was transferred from BNFL to the newly created Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). During early 2021, further restructuring led to DRS, along with sibling subsidiaries Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited (PNTL) and International Nuclear Services (INS), falling under a new NDA division, Nuclear Transport Solutions (NTS). The origins of Direct Rail Services (DRS) can be traced back to
3888-554: The Magnox sites, were not attractive for commercial operations and remained in public ownership as Magnox Electric . On 30 January 1998, Magnox Electric was merged into BNFL as BNFL Magnox Generation. In 1999, it was discovered that BNFL staff had been falsifying some MOX fuel quality assurance data since 1996. A Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) investigation concluded that "the level of control and supervision ... had been virtually non-existent." BNFL had to pay compensation to
3996-540: The Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository of the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant was under construction as of 2015. Most thermal-neutron reactors run on a once-through nuclear fuel cycle , mainly due to the low price of fresh uranium. However, many reactors are also fueled with recycled fissionable materials that remain in spent nuclear fuel. The most common fissionable material that is recycled
4104-439: The integral fast reactor and molten salt reactors , can use as fuel the plutonium and other actinides in spent fuel from light water reactors, thanks to their fast fission spectrum. This offers a potentially more attractive alternative to deep geological disposal. The thorium fuel cycle results in similar fission products, though creates a much smaller proportion of transuranic elements from neutron capture events within
4212-444: The privatisation of British Rail during the 1990s; British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) had a long-standing arrangement with British Rail for the latter to undertake the haulage of nuclear flask traffic, but the pending dissolution of British Rail led to BNFL considering other options. In October 1994, it was announced that BNFL had decided to perform rail transport and other railway-related services internally. For this purpose, DRS
4320-422: The thermal energy released from nuclear fission . A fission nuclear power plant is generally composed of: a nuclear reactor , in which the nuclear reactions generating heat take place; a cooling system, which removes the heat from inside the reactor; a steam turbine , which transforms the heat into mechanical energy ; an electric generator , which transforms the mechanical energy into electrical energy. When
4428-642: The 1980s, reaching 300 GW by 1990. The 1979 Three Mile Island accident in the United States and the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Soviet Union resulted in increased regulation and public opposition to nuclear power plants. These factors, along with high cost of construction, resulted in the global installed capacity only increasing to 392 GW by 2023. These plants supplied 2,602 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity in 2023, equivalent to about 9% of global electricity generation , and were
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4536-766: The 2 billion year old natural nuclear fission reactors in Oklo , Gabon is cited as "a source of essential information today." Experts suggest that centralized underground repositories which are well-managed, guarded, and monitored, would be a vast improvement. There is an "international consensus on the advisability of storing nuclear waste in deep geological repositories ". With the advent of new technologies, other methods including horizontal drillhole disposal into geologically inactive areas have been proposed. There are no commercial scale purpose built underground high-level waste repositories in operation. However, in Finland
4644-507: The 2011 disaster. Kishida is also pushing for research and construction of new safer nuclear plants to safeguard Japanese consumers from the fluctuating price of the fossil fuel market and reduce Japan's greenhouse gas emissions. Kishida intends to have Japan become a significant exporter of nuclear energy and technology to developing countries around the world. By 2015, the IAEA's outlook for nuclear energy had become more promising, recognizing
4752-655: The Daventry Freight Terminal and Mossend Yard, outside Glasgow . The ownership of DRS was transferred from BNFL to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), following the creation of the NDA on 1 April 2005 under the terms of the Energy Act 2004 . Since April 2021, DRS, as well as its sibling NDA subsidiaries Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited (PNTL) and International Nuclear Services (INS), have been operated by
4860-599: The Japanese customer, Kansai Electric , and take back a flawed shipment of MOX fuel from Japan. BNFL's Chief Executive John Taylor resigned, after initially resisting resignation when the NII's damning report was published. As a consequence of this crisis, a possible partial privatisation of BNFL was delayed by two years. In 1999, BNFL acquired Westinghouse Electric Company , the commercial nuclear power businesses of CBS (Westinghouse acquired CBS in 1995 and reoriented itself as
4968-477: The NDA. On 19 April 2005, BNFL, Inc. was renamed BNG America and made a subsidiary of BNG. In July 2005, BNFL confirmed it planned to sell Westinghouse, then estimated to be worth $ 1.8bn (£1bn). However the bid attracted interest from several companies, including Toshiba , General Electric and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and when the Financial Times reported on 23 January 2006 that Toshiba had won
5076-622: The PWR being the reactor of choice also for power generation, thus having a lasting impact on the civilian electricity market in the years to come. On June 27, 1954, the Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant in the USSR became the world's first nuclear power plant to generate electricity for a power grid , producing around 5 megawatts of electric power. The world's first commercial nuclear power station, Calder Hall at Windscale, England
5184-585: The United States in the early 1960s. In the late 1960s, some members of the scientific community began to express pointed concerns. These anti-nuclear concerns related to nuclear accidents , nuclear proliferation , nuclear terrorism and radioactive waste disposal . In the early 1970s, there were large protests about a proposed nuclear power plant in Wyhl , Germany. The project was cancelled in 1975. The anti-nuclear success at Wyhl inspired opposition to nuclear power in other parts of Europe and North America. By
5292-563: The United States, Europe and Asia. In June 2000, BNFL took a 22.5% stake in Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (Pty) Ltd in South Africa. In January 2003, the research and development arm of BNFL was relaunched as Nuclear Sciences and Technology Services (NSTS). However, BNFL's financial difficulties increased, and the prospect of partial privatisation diminished. On 1 April 2005, the company was reorganised as part of
5400-401: The United States, over 120 Light Water Reactor proposals were ultimately cancelled and the construction of new reactors ground to a halt. The 1979 accident at Three Mile Island with no fatalities, played a major part in the reduction in the number of new plant constructions in many countries. During the 1980s one new nuclear reactor started up every 17 days on average. By the end of
5508-626: The Wherry Lines under contract to Abellio Greater Anglia . It was operated by top and tailed Class 47s hauling Mark 2s, top and tail Class 37s were introduced in mid-2015. Between 30 November 2009 and 28 May 2010, DRS ran a service on the Cumbrian Coast Line between Maryport and Workington following a road bridge being destroyed by floods. The trains were made up of Class 37s , Class 47s and Class 57s top and tailing DRS' Mark 3 carriages. During April 2011, DRS commenced
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#17327879897195616-640: The actinides (the most active and dangerous components) in the present inventory of nuclear waste, while also producing power and creating additional quantities of fuel for more reactors via the breeding process. As of 2017, there are two breeders producing commercial power, BN-600 reactor and the BN-800 reactor , both in Russia. The Phénix breeder reactor in France was powered down in 2009 after 36 years of operation. Both China and India are building breeder reactors. The Indian 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor
5724-437: The bid, it valued the company's offer at $ 5bn (£2.8bn). On 6 February 2006, Toshiba confirmed it was buying Westinghouse Electric Company for $ 5.4bn and announced it would sell a minority stake to investors. On 3 February 2006, BNFL announced it had agreed to sell BNG America to Envirocare to form EnergySolutions . In March 2006, BNFL announced its intention to sell BNG. With the sale of Westinghouse, BNG America and BNG this
5832-542: The building of larger single-purpose production reactors for the production of weapons-grade plutonium for use in the first nuclear weapons. The United States tested the first nuclear weapon in July 1945, the Trinity test , and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki happened one month later. Despite the military nature of the first nuclear devices, there was strong optimism in the 1940s and 1950s that nuclear power could provide cheap and endless energy. Electricity
5940-702: The bulk of the long-term radioactivity. High-level waste (HLW) must be stored isolated from the biosphere with sufficient shielding so as to limit radiation exposure. After being removed from the reactors, used fuel bundles are stored for six to ten years in spent fuel pools , which provide cooling and shielding against radiation. After that, the fuel is cool enough that it can be safely transferred to dry cask storage . The radioactivity decreases exponentially with time, such that it will have decreased by 99.5% after 100 years. The more intensely radioactive short-lived fission products (SLFPs) decay into stable elements in approximately 300 years, and after about 100,000 years,
6048-441: The company began diversification into other operations, initially bidding for contracts to haul freight traffic for other companies such as Tesco and Eddie Stobart Group . Furthermore, DRS has branched into passenger services, these have included charters , such as the Northern Belle , and contracts with operators such as National Express East Anglia , Chiltern Railways , and Arriva Rail North . Additional rolling stock, such as
6156-554: The company started to operate some services on the Cumbrian Coast Line under contract to Northern Rail (later Arriva Rail North ) using top and tail Class 37s which hauled Mark 2 coaches. On 27 July 2015, one of the Class 37s was replaced by a DBSO , with the other replaced at a later date. On 29 January 2018, one set was made to be Top and Tail Class 68s, while the other stayed a Class 37 and DBSO. On 21 May 2018, there
6264-497: The company within two years were still active. By this point the company had not traded in 13 years. However, on 18 July 2023, BNFL was resurrected as Great British Nuclear, with the aim of delivering the government's long-term nuclear programme and supporting its ambition to deliver up to 24 GW of nuclear power in the UK by 2050. Great British Nuclear is running a small modular reactor (SMR) competition which will place between one and four co-funding contracts in late 2024, supporting
6372-415: The concentration of naturally occurring radioactive materials in coal. A 2008 report from Oak Ridge National Laboratory concluded that coal power actually results in more radioactivity being released into the environment than nuclear power operation, and that the population effective dose equivalent from radiation from coal plants is 100 times that from the operation of nuclear plants. Although coal ash
6480-689: The cusp of World War II , in order to develop a nuclear weapon . In the United States, these research efforts led to the creation of the first man-made nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1 under the Stagg Field stadium at the University of Chicago , which achieved criticality on December 2, 1942. The reactor's development was part of the Manhattan Project , the Allied effort to create atomic bombs during World War II. It led to
6588-409: The decade, global installed nuclear capacity reached 300 GW. Since the late 1980s, new capacity additions slowed significantly, with the installed nuclear capacity reaching 366 GW in 2005. The 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the USSR , involving an RBMK reactor, altered the development of nuclear power and led to a greater focus on meeting international safety and regulatory standards. It
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#17327879897196696-650: The development and regulatory approval process, to prepare bids for a SMR final investment decision in 2029. GBN is led by Gwen Parry-Jones as interim chief executive officer , who was formerly the CEO of Magnox Ltd . Its chair is Simon Bowen. BNFL formerly had operations at 18 sites in the UK: The former BNFL logotype was created in 1996 by Lloyd Northover, the British design consultancy founded by John Lloyd and Jim Northover. Nuclear power Nuclear power
6804-416: The disaster, Japan shut down all of its nuclear power reactors, some of them permanently, and in 2015 began a gradual process to restart the remaining 40 reactors, following safety checks and based on revised criteria for operations and public approval. In 2022, the Japanese government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida , declared that 10 more nuclear power plants were to be reopened since
6912-737: The first of 15 new Class 68s in February 2014; these are diesel-only versions of the Class 88s which would arrive later. During October 2014, a further ten were ordered followed by another seven in July 2015. In April 2015, two Class 68s commenced operating Fife Circle Line services for Abellio ScotRail . A further batch of six Class 68s (68020–68025) were delivered by on 5 April 2016. On 8 January 2016, DRS announced it would sell 12 of its older locomotives, including one Class 20 locomotive (20312), six Class 37 locomotives (37503/510/521/608/611/670) and five Class 47 locomotives (47810/13/18/28/53) along with two of its Mark 2 coaches. By January 2022,
7020-456: The full energy potential of the original uranium. The main constituent of spent fuel from LWRs is slightly enriched uranium . This can be recycled into reprocessed uranium (RepU), which can be used in a fast reactor, used directly as fuel in CANDU reactors, or re-enriched for another cycle through an LWR. Re-enriching of reprocessed uranium is common in France and Russia. Reprocessed uranium
7128-588: The haulage of other traffic, having secured a contract to operate milk traffic from Penrith to Cricklewood . In 2002, it commenced running intermodal freight trains from Grangemouth to the Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal using Class 66/4 locomotives ; it carries containers for both the Malcolm Group and Asda . In May 2020, DRS announced it had launched a new electrified freight route between
7236-463: The heart of France's drive for carbon neutrality by 2050. Meanwhile, in the United States, the Department of Energy , in collaboration with commercial entities, TerraPower and X-energy , is planning on building two different advanced nuclear reactors by 2027, with further plans for nuclear implementation in its long term green energy and energy security goals. Nuclear power plants are thermal power stations that generate electricity by harnessing
7344-578: The highest output mines are remote underground operations, such as McArthur River uranium mine , in Canada, which by itself accounts for 13% of global production. As of 2011 the world's known resources of uranium, economically recoverable at the arbitrary price ceiling of US$ 130/kg, were enough to last for between 70 and 100 years. In 2007, the OECD estimated 670 years of economically recoverable uranium in total conventional resources and phosphate ores assuming
7452-425: The importance of low-carbon generation for mitigating climate change . As of 2015 , the global trend was for new nuclear power stations coming online to be balanced by the number of old plants being retired. In 2016, the U.S. Energy Information Administration projected for its "base case" that world nuclear power generation would increase from 2,344 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2012 to 4,500 TWh in 2040. Most of
7560-574: The largest earthquakes ever recorded. The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant suffered three core meltdowns due to failure of the emergency cooling system for lack of electricity supply. This resulted in the most serious nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster. The accident prompted a re-examination of nuclear safety and nuclear energy policy in many countries. Germany approved plans to close all its reactors by 2022, and many other countries reviewed their nuclear power programs. Following
7668-551: The late 1970s. During the 1970s and 1980s rising economic costs (related to extended construction times largely due to regulatory changes and pressure-group litigation) and falling fossil fuel prices made nuclear power plants then under construction less attractive. In the 1980s in the U.S. and 1990s in Europe, the flat electric grid growth and electricity liberalization also made the addition of large new baseload energy generators economically unattractive. The 1973 oil crisis had
7776-460: The latter to provide six of its Class 68 locomotives to haul express passenger services, replacing Class 67s hired from DBS. On 15 December 2014, the first of DRS-hauled Chiltern service departed Marylebone station ; Chiltern noted that the Class 68s will be capable of hauling extended trains in the future. In addition to the locomotives themselves, DRS provided commissioning and maintenance services. Direct Rail Services initially operated from
7884-516: The life of nuclear fuel to a few years. In some countries, such as the United States, spent fuel is classified in its entirety as a nuclear waste. In other countries, such as France, it is largely reprocessed to produce a partially recycled fuel, known as mixed oxide fuel or MOX . For spent fuel that does not undergo reprocessing, the most concerning isotopes are the medium-lived transuranic elements , which are led by reactor-grade plutonium (half-life 24,000 years). Some proposed reactor designs, such as
7992-538: The lifetime of a facility and saved in a decommissioning fund. Direct Rail Services Direct Rail Services ( DRS ) is a rail freight company in Great Britain , and is one of the publicly owned railway companies in the United Kingdom. DRS was created as a wholly-owned subsidiary of British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) during late 1994 with the primary purpose of taking over the rail-based handling of nuclear material from British Rail . As early as 1997,
8100-719: The majority from France, 17% from Germany, and 9% from Japan. Breeding is the process of converting non-fissile material into fissile material that can be used as nuclear fuel. The non-fissile material that can be used for this process is called fertile material , and constitute the vast majority of current nuclear waste. This breeding process occurs naturally in breeder reactors . As opposed to light water thermal-neutron reactors, which use uranium-235 (0.7% of all natural uranium), fast-neutron breeder reactors use uranium-238 (99.3% of all natural uranium) or thorium. A number of fuel cycles and breeder reactor combinations are considered to be sustainable or renewable sources of energy. In 2006 it
8208-488: The mid-1970s anti-nuclear activism gained a wider appeal and influence, and nuclear power began to become an issue of major public protest. In some countries, the nuclear power conflict "reached an intensity unprecedented in the history of technology controversies". The increased public hostility to nuclear power led to a longer license procurement process, more regulations and increased requirements for safety equipment, which made new construction much more expensive. In
8316-437: The most common type of reactor, this concentration is too low, and it must be increased by a process called uranium enrichment . In civilian light water reactors, uranium is typically enriched to 3.5–5% uranium-235. The uranium is then generally converted into uranium oxide (UO 2 ), a ceramic, that is then compressively sintered into fuel pellets, a stack of which forms fuel rods of the proper composition and geometry for
8424-418: The most hazardous substances in nuclear waste), there is an estimated 160,000 years worth of uranium in total conventional resources and phosphate ore at the price of 60–100 US$ /kg. However, reprocessing is expensive, possibly dangerous and can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons. One analysis found that uranium prices could increase by two orders of magnitude between 2035 and 2100 and that there could be
8532-428: The natural process of uranium dissolved from the surface area of the ocean floor, both of which maintain the solubility equilibria of seawater concentration at a stable level. Some commentators have argued that this strengthens the case for nuclear power to be considered a renewable energy . The normal operation of nuclear power plants and facilities produce radioactive waste , or nuclear waste. This type of waste
8640-432: The near future. Most nuclear power plants use thermal reactors with enriched uranium in a once-through fuel cycle . Fuel is removed when the percentage of neutron absorbing atoms becomes so large that a chain reaction can no longer be sustained, typically three years. It is then cooled for several years in on-site spent fuel pools before being transferred to long-term storage. The spent fuel, though low in volume,
8748-416: The once-through fuel cycle. While reprocessing reduces the volume of high-level waste, it does not reduce the fission products that are the primary causes of residual heat generation and radioactivity for the first few centuries outside the reactor. Thus, reprocessed waste still requires an almost identical treatment for the initial first few hundred years. Reprocessing of civilian fuel from power reactors
8856-469: The particular reactor. After some time in the reactor, the fuel will have reduced fissile material and increased fission products, until its use becomes impractical. At this point, the spent fuel will be moved to a spent fuel pool which provides cooling for the thermal heat and shielding for ionizing radiation. After several months or years, the spent fuel is radioactively and thermally cool enough to be moved to dry storage casks or reprocessed. Uranium
8964-497: The predicted increase was expected to be in Asia. As of 2018, there were over 150 nuclear reactors planned including 50 under construction. In January 2019, China had 45 reactors in operation, 13 under construction, and planned to build 43 more, which would make it the world's largest generator of nuclear electricity. As of 2021, 17 reactors were reported to be under construction. China built significantly fewer reactors than originally planned. Its share of electricity from nuclear power
9072-511: The primary motivations of the anti-nuclear movement , which contends that nuclear power poses many threats to people and the environment, citing the potential for accidents like the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011, and is too expensive/slow to deploy when compared to alternative sustainable energy sources. Nuclear fission was discovered in 1938 after over four decades of work on
9180-575: The private sector. The first organization to develop practical nuclear power was the U.S. Navy , with the S1W reactor for the purpose of propelling submarines and aircraft carriers . The first nuclear-powered submarine, USS Nautilus , was put to sea in January 1954. The S1W reactor was a pressurized water reactor . This design was chosen because it was simpler, more compact, and easier to operate compared to alternative designs, thus more suitable to be used in submarines. This decision would result in
9288-719: The rail freight sector, particular in Scotland . In 2007, seven Mark 3 carriages from Virgin Trains were refurbished at the Oxley depot . The following year saw the coaches used to operate charter services under the Stobart Rail banner, however, the Stobart Rail operation ceased in July 2008. In June 2009, DRS commenced operating rescue locomotive duties on the Great Eastern Main Line for
9396-462: The reaction rate is contained by control rods that absorb excess neutrons. The controllability of nuclear reactors depends on the fact that a small fraction of neutrons resulting from fission are delayed . The time delay between the fission and the release of the neutrons slows changes in reaction rates and gives time for moving the control rods to adjust the reaction rate. The life cycle of nuclear fuel starts with uranium mining . The uranium ore
9504-637: The restart of another ten reactors. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in July 2022 announced that the country should consider building advanced reactors and extending operating licences beyond 60 years. As of 2022, with world oil and gas prices on the rise, while Germany is restarting its coal plants to deal with loss of Russian gas that it needs to supplement its Energiewende , many other countries have announced ambitious plans to reinvigorate ageing nuclear generating capacity with new investments. French President Emmanuel Macron announced his intention to build six new reactors in coming decades, placing nuclear at
9612-476: The restructuring of the wider nuclear industry. BNFL became British Nuclear Group (BNG) and a new holding company was established and adopted the British Nuclear Fuels name. This new BNFL operated largely through its major subsidiaries of Westinghouse and BNG as well as Nexia Solutions , its commercial nuclear technology business formed out of NSTS. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA)
9720-450: The science of radioactivity and the elaboration of new nuclear physics that described the components of atoms . Soon after the discovery of the fission process, it was realized that a fissioning nucleus can induce further nucleus fissions, thus inducing a self-sustaining chain reaction. Once this was experimentally confirmed in 1939, scientists in many countries petitioned their governments for support for nuclear fission research, just on
9828-512: The second-largest low-carbon power source after hydroelectricity . As of November 2024, there are 415 civilian fission reactors in the world , with overall capacity of 374 GW, 66 under construction and 87 planned, with a combined capacity of 72 GW and 84 GW, respectively. The United States has the largest fleet of nuclear reactors, generating almost 800 TWh of low-carbon electricity per year with an average capacity factor of 92%. The average global capacity factor
9936-426: The spent fuel becomes less radioactive than natural uranium ore. Commonly suggested methods to isolate LLFP waste from the biosphere include separation and transmutation , synroc treatments, or deep geological storage. Thermal-neutron reactors , which presently constitute the majority of the world fleet, cannot burn up the reactor grade plutonium that is generated during the reactor operation. This limits
10044-478: The support and manufacturing of the UK's nuclear deterrent. As BNFL was wound down it was converted back to a private limited company on 31 December 2008 and regained its original name, British Nuclear Fuels Limited. The final sale transactions for BNFL's former businesses were completed in May 2009. Despite this, the company itself was not wound up and continued as a legal entity. In February 2023, plans to wind up
10152-417: The then-current use rate. Light water reactors make relatively inefficient use of nuclear fuel, mostly using only the very rare uranium-235 isotope. Nuclear reprocessing can make this waste reusable, and newer reactors also achieve a more efficient use of the available resources than older ones. With a pure fast reactor fuel cycle with a burn up of all the uranium and actinides (which presently make up
10260-472: The train operator National Express East Anglia , as well as hauling Class 90 electric locomotives from Norwich to Great Yarmouth on summer Saturdays. This included Summer Saturday Wherry Lines services. DRS have periodically operated services on the Wherry Lines during periods of diesel multiple unit shortage. During October 2014, it commenced operating a two-year contract to operate services on
10368-524: The use of a thorium fuel cycle in the third stage, as it has abundant thorium reserves but little uranium. Nuclear decommissioning is the process of dismantling a nuclear facility to the point that it no longer requires measures for radiation protection, returning the facility and its parts to a safe enough level to be entrusted for other uses. Due to the presence of radioactive materials, nuclear decommissioning presents technical and economic challenges. The costs of decommissioning are generally spread over
10476-563: Was 5% in 2019 and observers have cautioned that, along with the risks, the changing economics of energy generation may cause new nuclear energy plants to "no longer make sense in a world that is leaning toward cheaper, more reliable renewable energy". In October 2021, the Japanese cabinet approved the new Plan for Electricity Generation to 2030 prepared by the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE) and an advisory committee, following public consultation. The nuclear target for 2030 requires
10584-466: Was connected to the national power grid on 27 August 1956. In common with a number of other generation I reactors , the plant had the dual purpose of producing electricity and plutonium-239 , the latter for the nascent nuclear weapons program in Britain . The total global installed nuclear capacity initially rose relatively quickly, rising from less than 1 gigawatt (GW) in 1960 to 100 GW in
10692-399: Was created as a direct outcome of the 1986 Chernobyl accident. The Chernobyl disaster played a major part in the reduction in the number of new plant constructions in the following years. Influenced by these events, Italy voted against nuclear power in a 1987 referendum, becoming the first country to completely phase out nuclear power in 1990. In the early 2000s, nuclear energy was expecting
10800-474: Was established on 1 April 2005 and took ownership of all of BNFL's nuclear sites, including the Sellafield site. The NDA then opened up the decommissioning of the different sites to tender to drive down costs. BNFL became one of a number of decommissioning contractors through BNG. BNFL's nuclear waste transfer companies, Direct Rail Services and International Nuclear Services , were also both transferred to
10908-420: Was estimated that with seawater extraction, there was likely five billion years' worth of uranium resources for use in breeder reactors. Breeder technology has been used in several reactors, but as of 2006, the high cost of reprocessing fuel safely requires uranium prices of more than US$ 200/kg before becoming justified economically. Breeder reactors are however being developed for their potential to burn all of
11016-692: Was generated for the first time by a nuclear reactor on December 20, 1951, at the EBR-I experimental station near Arco, Idaho , which initially produced about 100 kW . In 1953, American President Dwight Eisenhower gave his " Atoms for Peace " speech at the United Nations , emphasizing the need to develop "peaceful" uses of nuclear power quickly. This was followed by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 which allowed rapid declassification of U.S. reactor technology and encouraged development by
11124-461: Was later sold in June 2007, along with its subsidiary that held the operating contracts with the NDA, Magnox Electric , to EnergySolutions . All UK Magnox power stations were due to cease operation by the end of 2015. BNG Project Services, BNG's specialist nuclear consulting business, was sold in January 2008 to VT Group , which was itself later acquired in 2010 by Babcock International Group . BNG
11232-468: Was only one set out, which was the Top and Tail Class 68s only running between Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness. This service was ultimately replaced by Class 156 Diesel Multiple Units (transferred from ScotRail ) on 28 December 2018, with special commemorative 'farewell' service being run for charity on 11 January 2019. In June 2014, it was announced that Chiltern Railways had signed a contract with DRS for
11340-480: Was renamed Sellafield Ltd and became the NDA's Site Licence Company (SLC) for the decommissioning contract at Sellafield. In November 2008, the NDA contracted the management of Sellafield Ltd to Nuclear Management Partners Ltd, a consortium of URS , AMEC and Areva . In July 2006, the UK Government stated its intention to preserve and develop key research and development capabilities potentially as part of
11448-497: Was resurrected in July 2023 under the trading name Great British Nuclear, to coordinate the UK nuclear industry to help achieve government net-zero targets. The company formally changed its name to Great British Nuclear on 20 March 2024. British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL) was set up in February 1971 from the demerger of the production division of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). In 1984, BNFL became
11556-609: Was set up as a wholly-owned rail freight subsidiary of BNFL, initially using a small fleet of five Class 20/3 locomotives. Prior to 1998, DRS's nuclear haulage activities were exclusively related to the transporting of nuclear fuel rods from overseas to Sellafield for processing. During 1998, DRS took over the movement of fuel rods from various nuclear power stations across Britain , such as Heysham , Valley (for Wylfa) , Bridgwater (for Hinkley Point) , Berkeley (for Oldbury) , Hunterston , Torness , Seaton Carew , Dungeness and Sizewell . During 1997, DRS began to diversify into
11664-490: Was to effectively bring BNFL to an end. Mike Parker, CEO of BNFL, said: "By the end of 2007... there will be little need for the BNFL corporate centre from this time". On 22 August 2006, BNFL announced that instead of selling BNG as a going concern it would instead sell it off piece by piece. In January 2007, BNFL announced that it would sell BNG's Magnox reactor sites operating business, Reactor Sites Management Company Ltd . It
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