Happy to have a replacement at Chapelcross, Dumfriesshire. The still being decommissioned Magnox plant ceased generation operations in 2004.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapelcross_nuclear_power_station

Site self-evidently connected to the UK grid and with cooling water supply.

Shame SNP have blocked any new Nukes in Scotland.

[...] will initially deploy three Rolls-Royce SMR units capable of powering three million homes, with potential to expand to eight reactors. [...] at Wylfa on Anglesey, an island off northwest Wales - but it won't generate power until the mid-2030s.

as per wikipedia -> Population (2024) Total 69,097

With 70k people living there right now, even a ten year viagra-only diet will leave them hard pressed to need power for three million homes, leave alone eight, by 2040.

Google "Wylfa Data Centre (Prosperity Parc)", but ssshhhhhh!...... don't tell the locals...

Anglesey is connected to the mainland by two bridges and ample power connections able to deliver power from the retired higher powered nuclear plant to the mainland.

The sparse population is seen as a cynical benefit if nuclear goes mushroom shaped.

So if the SMR's go all Fukushima, just blow the bridges and tow it out into the Irish Sea?...

Sure, I was aware of that.

Supposed to be a light attempt at humor, difficult audience here, judgeing by the downvotes..

otoh, anything remotely critical of nuclear power (or Britain in general) isn't really liked in here...

Depends how you judge it, Seven.

A world-weary, slightly cynical riff on Britain's relative decline down the years will usually get you an upvote or two, especially if you reflect on past glories.

Nuclear power? Well us commentards are largely led by the evidence. The attitude to the last 70-odd years is generally "2 Level 7 incidents - not great, not terrible". But in my view all opinions are welcome. Even those Russian trolls I seem to attract.

I rather liked your tongue-in-cheek encouragement to have my country men take up Viagra (they did their bit in proving it's efficacy in the first place, after all). That said since my preference is for Cymraes rather than Cymro, I'm probably not the best person to opine.

"The timing problem is critical."

And HMGs of various colours have been faffing about for decades.

"And HMGs of various colours have been faffing about for decades."

Absolutely. Billions of 'investment' pissed up the wall for toys but no real interest in replacing and increasing power generation.

I wonder if this can be marked as a benefit of Labour; the Conservatives on their performance over 40+ years would have signed with Westinghouse on the basis it was cheaper and that there was no UK manufacturer with a track record and similarly priced offering etc., then whinge about how poor UK manufacturing is by not being world class and thus able to compete with Westinghouse

I visited Wylfa back in about 1980 (aged about 12). No sure how legal/official it was - my Dad was Deputy Mayor in Conwy, so when he was invited on a tour, I tagged along.

High point of the day was when the guide pointed out the switch that turned up the power output. Not sure if he was telling me to turn it or not, but I did. Much excitement before he turned it down again.

Big regret of the day is that I wasn't allowed to keep the radiation detection badge. Lunch was good though.

A-Level physics trip to Sellafield in 1991. My mate moved inside the full body radiation detector, when we were leaving the room where the flasks are opened and spent fuel rods removed. It measured his body radiation multiple times. An awful lot of alarms went off. There was quite a bit of urgent phone calling and consulting before the alarm got turned off and he was sent through again with a clean bill of health. Meanwhile muggins was the only one of the group left on the wrong side of the detector, waving a hand-held geiger counter over myself and wondering whether the red line had been set conservatively or whether there actually was a leak. Interesting trip. Lunch was good though - canteen did nice chips.

And your ability to de-materialise at will ever since has come in handy on a few occasions?...

Never set the alarm off even though have been in many of the Sellfield plants including standing on top of the Magnox Swarf Storage Silos (sometimes called "The most Dangerous Building in Britain). It's not the most dangerous, the Houses of Parliament are far more deadly.

These silos (22 of them) are the ones currently being emptied and the contents put into high integrity containers for burial.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/sellafields-most-complex-clean-up-job-reaches-major-milestone

My personal claim to fame is finding certain out of date and life expired chemicals in a storage laboratory, these materials being shock sensitive as the inhibitor had evaporated. That one required the Bomb Squad to dispose of the materials.

http://corecumbria.co.uk/briefings/chemical-alert-brings-bomb-squad-to-sellafields-confined-separation-area/

It was put down to a couple of apprentices, but it was me :-D

> the company would "deliver nuclear power very differently by utilizing modularization and a high level of factory build, therefore minimizing the impact on local people."

So all the skilled work and well-paid jobs will go to Derby while the Welsh just get to install the dangerous, radioactive bits?

Better than them being in Trumpistan…

As commonly used in press releases, presumably for it's lack of meaning.

A house with gas heating?

A house with electric heating?

A house with a heat pump?

A house with an electric car or two?

Typical flack.

I can't find the Omdia report through Google, but if the quote given is representative of the report, then Omdia don't seem very aware of what is happening with SMRs.

A plant with four 300 MW SMR units started construction in Canada just east of Toronto last year. The first reactor is expected to start operation before 2030. This is for a utility customer who currently operate large nuclear reactors.

As for data centres building their own SMRs, I'll believe it when I see it. The AI bubble is about to pop and when that happens capital spending on data centres will get cut back drastically.

We still need reliable electric power to light our homes and businesses, and for an increasing number of people to charge our cars, and for that nuclear power will see increasing use. That I believe is where I expect to see most SMRs built, and these will like the reactors announced in this story be mainly designs based on conventional and well proven reactor technology scaled down and simplified rather than the exotic technologies many of the AI data centre operators talk about.