THE head of operations at the company responsible for redeveloping Aberthaw Power Station has revealed that micro modular nuclear reactors could be built on the site.
At a recent meeting of the Vale Council’s Environment and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee, Nicola Somerville, head of operations at CCR Energy revealed that power stations of the AMR-SMR type are among the options being considered for the Aberthaw site. AMRs are “Advanced Modular Reactors” and SMRs are “Small Modular Reactors”.
The revelation came days after a separate announcement that an American company, Last Energy, is planning to bring four of its 20 MWe micro modular nuclear power plants to a vacant site that formerly housed the Llynfi Power Station in Bridgend county.
Photo: Vale Council.
Among those raising concerns about the proposals for Aberthaw at the meeting was Cllr Mark Hooper (Plaid Cymru, Baruc) who addressed the CCR Energy representatives, saying: “Clearly, this will be something that will concern residents. This is the first time we’ve heard about it.
“There was a notification that in the Llynfi Valley there were going to be four modular reactors put into an existing substation in Bridgend county borough, but the provider of that has not got any facilities at all… and yet they say they’re going to launch it within 18 months.
“So I think there’s an element of caution, and this is the sort of thing that we really need to have full sight of what the plans are and concerns to it needs to be addressed clearly with people on a wider basis, because obviously these things don’t operate one minute and close down the next.
“We’re talking about a legacy for hundreds of years, potentially. So I’ll be interested in where you are with that.”
CCR Energy considering many types of energy production
Christian Cadwallader, managing director of CCR Energy responded: “We’ve not hidden at all the fact that we’re considering many types of energy production on-site, and technology [ie nuclear power] is certainly one of those.
“We will absolutely go through a full consultation process. There will be the legislative process that we will go through and will consult fully with all those around the site and indeed, across the region.
“I would rather not comment on what’s happening in the other borough [Llynfi], however, I absolutely hear your concerns, and I would give you the reassurance that it’s a highly regulated area, and there’s an extensive safety process to go through in order to start to even think about installing AMR-SMR technology, once the government approve it.”
If the nuclear proposals go ahead, the amount of energy generated is unlikely to come close to the levels seen at the former coal-fired power station at Aberthaw, which had a generating capacity of 1,560 MW in 2008. If the planned four micro modular reactors at Llynfi are built, they will have a total capacity of just 80 MW.
Asbestos in chimney stack
The committee also heard that demolishing the existing Aberthaw Power Station building will be challenging because it contains significant quantities of asbestos, including in the chimney stack.
An agreement has been reached with a demolition contractor to carry out the work, but detailed plans of the process have not yet been submitted to the Vale Council.
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