The history of nuclear energy lies on British soil – does its future?

The UK was the birthplace of commercial nuclear power, but now generates only part of its energy from it That — there are significant investments underway to change that.

The country once had more nuclear power plants than the United States, the Soviet Union, and France combined. It was a global producer until 1970 but has not completed a new reactor since Sizewell B in 1995.

Today, the country takes the crown not for being a leader in the field of atomic energy, but for being the leading country in the field of atomic energy. The most expensive place in the world To build nuclear projects.

Nuclear power will account for just 14% of the UK’s energy supply in 2023, according to Reuters. Latest data From the International Energy Agency, lagging behind its European counterparts and far behind leading France at 65%.

There is an ambition to change that and get a quarter of the UK’s energy from nuclear by 2050. Nuclear is an attractive gas, as it is a stable, low-carbon energy source that can act as baseload to complement intermittent sources such as renewables.

“There is very clear momentum that has been observed,” Doreen Abeysondra, founder of consulting firm Fresco Cleantech, told CNBC. This is partly due to geopolitical tensions, which have pushed energy security and independence onto public agendas.

However, the UK’s Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce has called for urgent reforms after identifying “systemic failings” in the country’s nuclear framework. It found that fragmented regulation, flawed legislation and weak incentives led to the UK’s underdevelopment as a nuclear power. The government has committed to implementing the task force’s directives, and is expected to present a plan to do so within three months.

In September, The country signed an agreement With the United States to enable stronger trade relations in nuclear energy and simplify the licensing process for companies that want to build on the other side of the Atlantic.

However, “the first thing is that there is not, at the moment, a single small-scale company that is effectively producing electricity under four revenues. And they will all come at best in the 30s,” Ludovico Cappelli, listed infrastructure portfolio manager at Van Lanschot Kempen, told CNBC.

While small and medium-sized reactors are “game-changing” with their ability to power individual plants or small towns, their days of commercial operation are far away, he said. He added that from an investment point of view, “this is still a bit scary.”

To secure the large baseloads needed to offset renewables outages, “we are still looking at large power plants,” added Paul Jackson, Invesco’s global market strategist for EMEA.

Jackson said SMEs would “potentially” have a role – “they could obviously be more nimble” – but it would take time to roll them out, casting doubt on the UK’s ability to be a leader in nuclear energy, with France and China already well ahead.

The UK government’s major nuclear authority is set to identify sites for an additional large-scale plant, having already acquired one in Gloucestershire, in western England, in addition to the site in Wales.

A spokesperson for the UK government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero told CNBC: “We are reversing the legacy of no new nuclear power being delivered to unlock a golden age of nuclear power, securing thousands of good, skilled jobs and investing billions.”

They added: “Sizewell C will provide clean electricity to the equivalent of six million households today for at least six decades, and the UK’s first small modular reactors at Huelva will power the equivalent of three million homes, providing energy security.”

Meanwhile, Tokamak Energy and First Light Fusion make their home in the UK. Both focus on nuclear fusion, the process of generating energy by combining atoms, although this technology has not yet come out of the laboratory. All nuclear energy today comes from fission, where atoms are released. UK Announced £2.5 billion For the world’s first fusion prototype in June.

Perhaps the most difficult issue However, it is the supply chain.

Uranium, the fuel used in the nuclear reaction, is controlled by only four countries, including Russia. Global demand for Uranium could rise By nearly a third by 2030 and more than double by 2040, according to the World Nuclear Association, adding further dependence on a select few countries and pressure on developers.

The UK government has allocated funding to build the supply chain and has committed to ban the import of nuclear fuel from Russia by 2028. Cappelli noted that fuel for the Sizewell C project will come from European or Western suppliers.

However, it begs the question: How safe is nuclear power really? “We have to build nuclear power plants, but we need to build the value chain,” Cappelli added.

He added that labor, expertise and financing are needed for nuclear power, but the supply chain is also important. Otherwise, there would be “the same problems we had with gas,” referring to the UK’s reliance on just one supplier. Instead of gas, it will be uranium.