The Prime Minister praised a new “golden age” of nuclear energy while British and American companies announce five new commercial offers, before the state visit of the American president this week.
Plans include a new nuclear power plant in Hartlepool using latent and potentially cheaper technology and data centers powered by mini reactors in Nottinghamshire.
Managers rushed to coordinate the agreements before President Donald Trump Jets on Tuesday, the two leaders should sign Technological offers of several billion pounds as well as an overhaul to work together on nuclear energy.
They hope that the new Atlantic Partnership for Advanced Nuclear Energy will notoriously accelerate nuclear projects in the two countries by reducing administrative formalities and aligning security standards.
The two governments bet much on nuclear to meet the demand for increasing electricity and the voracious appetite for EA for energy, while Sir Keir Starmer hopes that this will increase jobs, growth and manufacturing in the ancient industrial Heartlands.
The two leaders also hope that the large-scale visit will get rid of last week’s scandal on the revelations of the ambassador to the United States Lord Mandelson links with the condemned pedophile Jeffrey Epsteinwith whom Trump’s own association is examined.
The jewel of today’s announcements is the plan to replace the outgoing nuclear power plant from Hartlepool, which expires in 2028, with a new 960 MW factory using new advanced modular reactor technology (AMR).
The designer Amr, the American company X-Energy, signed a joint development agreement with the British gas owner Centrica to build and finance the fleet, which, according to them, would generate 2,500 construction jobs and maintain hundreds when they were operational in the 2030s.
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What are advanced modular reactors?
Advanced reactors or small modular reactors (AMR or SMR) are new nuclear power plants, hoping to be faster and faster to build than traditional technology, such as that used on Hinkley and Sizewell sites delayed and too budget.
About 80 models are in a global development and they have long been promised but barely materialized.
Find out more: Why the United Kingdom has once again warned nuclear energy
The industry claims that SMRs are finally about to break through, given the renewed appetite for governments for nuclear energy to respond to energy safety problems, an increase in electricity demands and climatic targets to eliminate polluting fossil fuels.
Why technology giants like new nuclear technology
Technology giants are also hungry that SMRs can feed the booming IA data centers, which need the type of clean energy nuclear, regular 24/7.
Today, EDF has announced plans in the start -up phase with the American Nuclear Energy Holtec company to build data centers powered by SMRs in the old coal -fired power plant in COTTAM in Nottinghamshire. If it goes forward, it is worth 11 billion pounds sterling and create thousands of jobs during construction.
These new reactors need a type of fuel (uranium or low -under -trial survey) which is only available to buy commercially in Russia and China.
Sangue de la security energy, the British government has financed a company called Urenco to build a haleu installation in the Cheshire.
Urenco also announced an agreement of 4 million pounds sterling to sell this fuel to the American market, where it also explores another manufacturing site.
Two other agreements to be released today involve a micro-planet to supply the port of London Gateway and the screening of sites for nuclear reactors designed by Bill Gates’s Terrapower.
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The news was welcomed by industry and the Union Perspect.
Tom Greatrex, Director General of UK’s Nuclear Industry Association, said: “These transactions are extremely welcome and rely on a summer of nuclear government investment which stimulates an industrial renewal, creating thousands of high-value jobs and strengthening the energy security of the United Kingdom.”
But criticism warns that the new technology will always be expensive and slow, arguing that money should rather pay for renewable energies, batteries and insulating houses to reduce energy demand first. They also fear that the elimination facilities for Great Britain will not be able to face nuclear waste.
The United States promises “nuclear rebirth”
Sir Keir said that the “US-US-US-US” nuclear partnership “would refer to long-term household bills, while offering thousands of good short-term jobs”.
“With the United States, we are building a nuclear golden age that puts the two countries at the forefront of innovation and global investment,” he added.
The Secretary in the United States of Energy, Chris Wright, praised a “real nuclear rebirth – exploiting the power of commercial nuclear to meet the demand for increasing energy and fuel the AI revolution”.
“Responding to this demand will require solid partnerships with our allies around the world and robust collaboration with private sector innovators,” he said.
“Today’s commercial transactions have set up a framework for freeing commercial access to the United States and the United Kingdom, improving global energy security, strengthening the domination of American energy and guaranteeing nuclear supply chains across the Atlantic.”
Andrew Bowie, Minister of Energy Shadow, said: “All of these announcements are simply based on the strong inheritance left by the previous conservative government which launched the nuclear revolution In the United Kingdom. »»