The first production facility in Britain is scheduled to be operational in the first half of the 2030s.
Britain plans to be the first country in Europe to produce advanced uranium fuel. The British administration said on Sunday that it would invest 300 million pounds, or about 349 million euros, in the construction of the HALEU program (High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium).
Only Russia currently produces HALEU fuel on a commercial scale. According to Britain, HALEU production could help displace Russia in the global energy market.
The minister responsible for energy security and the zero emission goal Claire Coutinho emphasizes that Britain opposed Russia and its president Vladimir Putin in the oil, gas and financial markets, and the country is not going to let Putin blackmail with nuclear fuel either.
– Great Britain gave the world the first working nuclear power plant, and now we will be the first country in Europe outside of Russia to produce advanced nuclear fuel, Coutinho says in the press release.
HALEU fuel is needed to operate many advanced nuclear reactors of the next generation. The concentration of the uranium isotope 235 in HALEU is 5-20 percent, which exceeds the maximum five percent level currently used in most nuclear power plants.
According to the administration, Britain’s first production plant is scheduled to be operational already in the first half of the 2030s.
Production began late in the United States
HALEU production has recently started in the United States, but according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA, only a production plant operating in Russia produces uranium on a commercial scale.
Britain’s recently announced investment is part of the country’s plans to have up to 24 gigawatts of electricity produced by nuclear power by 2050. The amount corresponds to about a quarter of Britain’s electricity needs.
Britain hopes to get 95 percent of the country’s electricity from a low-carbon energy source by 2030. Carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity network, on the other hand, want to be completely eliminated by 2035.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak recently came under fire for deciding to postpone the ban on the sale of all petrol and diesel cars by five years until 2035.
According to those who criticized the decision, this would make it more difficult for Britain to achieve its zero emission goal by 2050.
Source: AFP