by Janet Wood
The UK’s security of supply would probably not be affected if plans to bring new nuclear power plants on line in 2019 were delayed, MPs heard this week. However, there would be a “detrimental” impact on meeting climate change goals.
John Earp, a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, told MPs on the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee: “If there is a significant slip, the alternative is a move towards gas.”
Dr Tim Fox, head of energy and environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said the implications for energy security “are less of a concern” than those for plans to decarbonise transport and heating.
The witnesses – who represented sectors that would be involved in building a new plant – were united in insisting the supply chain could accommodate nuclear new-build.
Steve Geary, skills strategy director at CITB Construction Skills, said the plans would represent just “1 per cent of total construction output”.
He acknowledged, however, that there were issues around running large projects in the rural areas concerned.
The witnesses told the MPs on the committee that current plans to complete a new plant by 2019 had “the potential to be achieved” if work started on schedule.
They insisted that lessons had been learnt from projects in Finland and France, which have suffered substantial delays. Some lessons were technical but the most important ones for contractors, witnesses said, were about the creation of a nuclear safety culture.
They said subcontractors and sub-subcontractors had to understand that in nuclear build there was no option to go back and “rework” an unsatisfactory job at a later date. Everyone, including those on the shop floor, had to understand their work was “part of the safety case for the plant”, Earp said.
To get that message to companies further down the supply chain, he added, skills bodies would jointly ask government for more flexible funding.
This article first appeared in Utility Week’s print edition of 14th September 2012.
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