Moorside nuclear power station

Moorside nuclear power station
Map
CountryUnited Kingdom
LocationSellafield, Cumbria
Coordinates54°25′47″N 3°30′39″W / 54.4296°N 3.5109°W / 54.4296; -3.5109
Statuscancelled[1]
OwnerNuGen
Nuclear power station
Reactor typePWR
External links
Websitewww.rolls-royce.com/~/media/Files/R/Rolls-Royce/documents/customers/nuclear/a-national-endeavour.pdf
[edit on Wikidata]

Moorside nuclear power station is proposed for a site near Sellafield, in Cumbria, England.[2] The original plan by NuGeneration, a British subsidiary of Toshiba-owned Westinghouse Electric Company, had the station coming online from 2024 with 3.4 GW of new nuclear capacity, from three AP1000 reactors. Work up to 2018 would include acquiring the site licence, the development consent order, and other required permits and permissions to start work. Site preparation was to take two years, up to 2020.[3]

Following the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Westinghouse in March 2017, the project was put under review.[4] From December 2017 to July 2018 Kepco was named as preferred bidder.[5][6] Kepco were thought to prefer their own APR-1400 reactor design for the site, a design which had not yet gone through generic design assessment with the UK's Office for Nuclear Regulation.

On 8 November 2018, it was announced that Toshiba's plans for the new nuclear power station had been scrapped and its subsidiary company, NuGen, would be wound up.[7] The Moorside site was handed back to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, and the government issued a statement reaffirming its commitment to new nuclear.[8]

In July 2020, a EDF-led Moorside consortium announced a proposal for two EPR reactors yielding 3,200 MWe of new nuclear capacity. A second Rolls-Royce-led UK SMR consortium plans a low-carbon power station around a small light-water reactor and the possibility of a link with renewable technologies, storage systems and hydrogen production named Moorside clean energy hub.[9][10]

  1. ^ "Nuclear power: Moorside". Gov.uk. Uk Government. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  2. ^ "The Moorside project". The Copeland Centre. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  3. ^ "First AP1000 at Moorside online by 2024, Westinghouse says". Nuclear Engineering International. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  4. ^ "National Grid puts Moorside plans on hold". World Nuclear News. 16 May 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Guardian-171206 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference wnn-20180801 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference guardian-20181108 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Rennison, Andrew (8 November 2018). "Moorside nuclear plant in doubt as Toshiba withdraws". www.constructionnews.co.uk. EMAP Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 9 November 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference nei20200701 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Moorside: Nuclear power schemes proposed for Cumbria site". 1 July 2020 – via www.bbc.com.