Nuclear

Our people have been working on new nuclear build projects since the beginning of the current renaissance in the UK. Foot Anstey has helped clients procure a significant number of site operations packages, which are critical to the delivery of the project (including transport and logistics, site utilities, catering and accommodation, security and IT). We also helped to establish a significant alliance between multi-national project partners to help deliver the commissioning of a new nuclear power plant.

In addition to the development of large-scale new nuclear build projects there is an increasing interest in the development of SMRs, which are considered to be lower cost, deployable, scalable and investable.

There are many similarities between the development of an SMR and the development of a larger scale new nuclear build project (for example, reactor technology and key supply chain participants).  However, there are a number of key differences (for example, unlike traditional new build projects where construction takes place on-site, SMRs are largely manufactured off-site and then delivered to location for final assembly).  Foot Anstey is working with clients to help identify risk associated with these distinguishing features and ensure that they are proactively and effectively managed.

A further area of growth is the development of fusion power stations. The technology is different from that use in standard nuclear reactors, which rely on fission breaking atoms apart. This will inevitably lead to a number of challenges and opportunities for developers. For example, fusion energy facilities will not be subject to nuclear site licensing requirements and, therefore, will not be subject to the same regulatory regime as nuclear fission.  Fusion will continue to be regulated in the UK by the Health and Safety Executive and environmental regulators, rather than the Office for Nuclear Regulation. This means that, whilst a new regulatory regime will need to be understood and carefully navigated, it might ultimately result in a more streamlined process to getting fusion facilities established.

Whilst there are significant hurdles to overcome, the UKAEA is committed to developing nuclear fusion plants within the next two decades. Again, Foot Anstey is working with clients to help them realise their long-term ambitions to contribute to the successful delivery of fission projects. We have already seen clients looking to utilise fusion energy across a range of sectors, including the space and satellite sector to support space propulsion, as well as more typical grid power generation application.