DTI goes nuclear with research plan

After bailing out British Energy, the Government signs up to a US-led project to develop new reactors

The Department of Trade and Industry is studying plans to fund research into building a new range of advanced nuclear power stations, despite British Energy's financial crisis.

The proposed funding is being considered by a team of DTI officials now drafting the energy White Paper, which is expected to be unveiled by Trade Secretary Patricia Hewitt and energy minister Brian Wilson in February or March next year.

The move comes amid signals that ministers are preparing to reverse the Govern- ment's long-standing refusal to fund research into new reactor designs, in the face of deep scepticism from investors and opposition from environmentalists.

Ten days ago, at a little-noticed event in Tokyo, the Government signed up to an international programme to develop six advanced new reactor designs, which is being led by the US Department of Energy.

The new designs, so-called Generation IV reactors, are being touted by the nuclear industry as a crucial opportunity to find a range of highly efficient, cheaper and cleaner reactors to replace existing types of station in 25 to 30 years' time. According to British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) which, with the National Nuclear Corporation is at the head of the UK's Generation IV delegation, Britain is likely to play a leading role in the development of two or three of the new designs.

The announcement in Tokyo came during the nuclear industry's worst financial crisis of recent years, after ministers last week ended the pretence that the industry could exist without taxpayers' support by giving British Energy a further £240m loan and extending its repayment deadline.

The White Paper is likely to be dominated by attempts to solve the root causes of British Energy's difficulties, but BNFL argues that the crisis, combined with its own serious financial problems, has shown the need to find more economically viable nuclear stations.

"Nuclear fission hasn't yet reached its potential," said Dr Sue Ion, BNFL's technical director. "Without some push to move to the next generation system, we will miss out on a terrific opportunity for fission to do better than it has done in the past." BNFL is already developing two so-called third generation reactors with Eskom in South Africa and its US subsidiary Westinghouse. Britain's involvement in the Generation IV programme is likely to focus on the two gas-cooled and one sodium-cooled design being considered.

BNFL claims that, as pressure to tackle global warming leads to coal and gas being phased out, nuclear power will play an even more significant role in meeting Britain's energy needs in 20 to 30 years' time. The company is also jealous of the government funding given to an experimental fusion reactor project, and its support for renewable energy research. "We need some form of macro strategy which joins up the interests of government, industry and academia. The Government has to put together something more coherent," Dr Ion said.

A DTI spokeswoman said ministers believed the Generation IV programme also offered British industry the chance to exploit commercial opportunities worldwide.