Commenting on the precarious and deepening gas-supply crisis in the UK, the London-based business journal “city.am” calls for new nuclear power projects to replace old plants and to have a reliable domestic power source for the United Kingdom. The UK is presently being hit by an acute shortage of gas, with the suspension of service at thousands of gasoline stations making spectacular news headlines these days. Even if the gasoline is available, there is an acute shortage of tank trucks and particularly of truck drivers—the latter being a scarce resource, with more than a hundred thousand drivers lacking, according to experts.
City.am writes: “In the short term, there is a continued role for gas in our energy ecosystem, even as we reduce our dependence on it. We need to shore up our supplies and increase the resilience of our access to gas from the North Sea and reduce our reliance on foreign powers to meet our energy needs. In the longer run, we need new nuclear capacity. This will replace capacity set to be taken offline over the next decade and ensure we have a stable flow of low-carbon generation.
“The Government is reportedly considering backing a Rolls-Royce-led consortium to build 16 new small modular reactors (SMRs). These generate around a seventh the electricity of a typical nuclear plant, but are much cheaper and simpler to build. Many of the pitfalls of traditional nuclear power, such as increased flexibility to scale up and down to meet energy needs, can be tackled by SMRs. They could form a backbone part of Britain’s energy plan.
“Many feel squeamish at the notion of nuclear power. Popular TV series on Chernobyl have done little to bolster public confidence in it. But it is overwhelmingly safe – we have relied on nuclear energy for decades. Elsewhere, nuclear accounts for roughly 70 percent of France’s energy needs.
“This gas crisis is a painful reminder of the vital importance of energy security. But if it has done nothing else but force the pace on nuclear, it will have served a valuable purpose.” (And the crisis is a strong and painful reminder: the acute crisis will not be overcome that soon–ed.)
