Britain plans to build new and advanced nuclear technology that can lower bills while decarbonising the economy, while also boosting the country’s energy security and removing the need for expensive foreign imports. The Warrington-based company MoltexFLEX has a team of highly skilled scientists who are creating new reactors that could revolutionize nuclear power as we know it. The government designated nuclear power as a critical part of its April energy strategy, which it drafted to increase independence and break Brtiain’s remaining dependence on Russian gas.
Westminster has an ambitious target to hit by triggering “a nuclear response”, aiming to deploy three times more civilian nuclear energy than the country currently has. Nuclear power is hoped to represent 25 percent of projected electricity demand by 2030.
As a major step toward achieving that goal, the new advanced FLEX reactors could reportedly be deployed quickly, and it could take as little as 24 months to build a 500-megawatt plant. This could be hugely important, as traditional nuclear power plants are notoriously slow to build, while Britain has had the arduous task of getting them online quickly.
For example, while Suffolk-based Sizewell could power six million homes once it comes online, it is expected to take nine and 12 years to build and commission the plant.
Meanwhile, FLEX reactors are said to be simple in both design and operation and have no moving parts. They also appear to be highly adaptable, reportedly able to respond to changes in energy demand by automatically going into an idle state or quickly returning to full power when needed.
This means that the reactors can be the perfect complement to the energy grid, alongside other clean technologies such as wind and solar energy, which are more dependent on weather conditions.
Rather than forcing the UK to burn more gas to make up for lost power generation when the wind isn’t blowing, FLEX claims its nuclear reactors can step in to provide power when needed.
David Landon, chief executive officer of MoltexFLEX, said: “We recognized the need for an energy supply that can support renewables when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing. In the FLEX reactor, we have a solution for both consumers and countries.”
Since wind and other renewables tend to be cheaper than the wholesale cost of gas, these energy sources, combined with the reliable nuclear reactors, are likely to provide a huge lifeline for bill payers who may be less vulnerable to volatile gas markets in the future.
This issue has come under the spotlight in recent months after the Russian war in Ukraine sent gas prices soaring, as did Vladimir Putin’s gas cuts to Europe, exposing the need to replace gas with alternative sources during the green transition.
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FLEX’s reactors look like they could play a vital role in that green transition, with a capacity of 40,000 houses each, despite only having a two-storey house. The reactors are also a low-cost source of energy, with the cost of the electricity they can generate is expected to be comparable to that of wind, at just £40 per MWh.
This is achieved by a special patented system. In a highly unique process, the FLEX reactors use two molten salts: one that acts as the nuclear fuel, while the other circulates as a coolant, extracting heat from the reactor by natural convection, without the need for pumps.
The reactors also do not require expensive steel and concrete structures, reducing the operational and maintenance costs often associated with nuclear power.
Once the systems come online, the reactors can be operated with the same skills and equipment used in regular fossil fuel plants. They also have a long lifespan of 60 years with only two scheduled breaks to refuel.
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Mr Landon added: “The FLEX reactor provides the safety net of affordable domestic energy, but is versatile enough for applications ranging from decarbonising heavy industry to powering cargo ships.”
But FLEX’s reactors aren’t the only revolutionary nuclear systems the UK has been working on. Rolls-Royce’s small modular reactors, similar to those of FLEX, are cheap and quick to build. They are also much smaller than traditional power plants, about the size of two football fields. However, they have a lot of power and are said to be able to power about half a million homes.
In May, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng (who was the Economics Minister at the time) told Express.co.uk: “SMRs could be a huge opportunity for the UK as we work towards greater energy independence.
“These inexpensive and quick-to-build mini-reactors can bring clean, domestic electricity into people’s homes, while reducing our exposure to expensive gas prices and reducing foreign imports.”
Landon added: “The FLEX reactor provides the safety net of affordable household energy, but is versatile enough for applications ranging from decarbonising heavy industry to powering cargo ships.”