How red tape holds back nuclear power in Britain

UK Day One think tank recently surveyed 43 leading British experts on economic growth (plus myself) Nuclear power is the number two priority area that the government should invest its time and political capital in.

Hinkley Point C , currently under construction, will cost 6 times more to build per megawatt than its South Korean equivalent.

As of 2004 , any practice that may expose the public to ionising regulation must be justified’. That is to say, the benefits must outweigh the costs of radiation exposure.

Every new nuclear reactor design has to apply to have their new practice’ approved as a justified use of ionising radiation.

This means that every new reactor design counts as a new practice requiring regulatory justification.

It can take over two years to receive a decision.

Most applications for regulatory justification address classes of use e.g. Use of ionising radiation (X-ray) imaging to support scientific age assessments of age-disputed persons’ New models of X-Rays used in hospitals do not require individual approval rather the entire use class is approved.

This would cover a wide range of reactor designs, including all medium-term proposals in Britain .