Plans to 'fast track' power plant's nuclear switch

The process of turning a former coal power station into a nuclear reactor and data centre is set to be "fast-tracked".

The government has announced a framework that it hopes will allow nuclear projects to be delivered more quickly, for example by helping them through the planning process.

One of those projects it expects will be part of the scheme is the former Cottam Power Station in Nottinghamshire.

Science minister Patrick Vallance said such nuclear projects had traditionally taken decades to deliver, but the Cottam project, if approved, was expected to be up and running in the 2030s.

He said this was in part because of the type of planned nuclear reactor, which was factory-made and assembled on site, and the new framework they were bringing in.

He added: "This system would click into action to try to make sure that we can marshal it through all of the inevitable hurdles and jumps and difficulties…to make it as easy as possible to get it moving as fast as we can possibly get it moving.

"This is a fast-track system to say 'how can we get people through what has historically been a very, very long process'.

"These are not quick projects. They never have been quick projects, but this will speed it up."

The government's new approach is a "concierge-style service" to support developers, helping them understand planning rules, regulation and fuel, provide risk protection and "enable them to crowd-in private investment".

He said safety and the chance for residents to raise their concerns would not be compromised, but insisted we "can't wait 20 years" for a project to get through the system.

"We need and want the clean energy as soon as possible to reduce bills on electricity, to provide industrial heat, to provide the growth engine that creates more jobs and improves lives right the way across the country," he added.

Applications to be part of the scheme will open in March.

In August, Cottam Power Station's eight 114m (375ft) cooling towers were demolished.

Three businesses - American energy firm Holtec International, EDF UK, and real estate manager Tritax - have signed an agreement to set up a small modular reactor (SMR) to power "advanced" data centres at the 900-acre site.

Holtec estimates the project value to be around £11 billion and said it could create "thousands of high-skilled manufacturing and construction jobs", as well as "long-term roles".

The SMR at Cottam would be the second of its kind, following the creation of a plant at Palisades in Michigan, in the US.

According to Vallance, the reactors are designed and built in a factory and then reassembled on site.

Addressing concerns about the safety of nuclear power and data centre water consumption, Vallance said it was a safe technology "provided you go through all of the appropriate measures", and modern centres recycle water more.

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