Press release – the application ‘has been accepted for Government consideration’. Electricity supply is too important to be left mainly to erratic and weather-dependent power sources.
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LONDON, UK – 5 April 2024 – The Nuclear Industry Association has applied for a justification decision for newcleo’s lead-cooled fast reactor, the LFR-AS-200, says newcleo.
Our application makes the case that the benefits of clean, firm, flexible power from the LFR-AS-200 would far outweigh any potential risks, which are in any event rigorously controlled by robust safety features, including passive safety systems, built into the design and incorporated into the operating arrangements, in line with the UK’s regulatory requirements.
The application also demonstrates that the reactor design would support nuclear energy’s contribution to a stable and well-balanced electricity grid, which is essential to reduce consumer bills and maintain economic competitiveness.
Justification is a regulatory process which requires a Government decision before any new class or type of practice involving ionising radiation can be introduced in the UK.
A justification decision is one of the required steps for the operation of a new nuclear technology in the UK, but it is not a permit or licence that allows a specific project to go ahead.
Instead, it is a generic decision based on a high-level evaluation of the potential benefits and detriments of the proposed new nuclear practice as a pre-cursor to future regulatory processes.
This is the first ever application for justification of an advanced nuclear technology in the UK. The UK Government has confirmed that the application has been accepted for consideration, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will support the Secretary of State in their role as the justifying authority responsible for the justification decision.
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Stefano Buono, newcleo Chairman and CEO, commented:
This is an important milestone in our development programme and a vital step forward in our delivery plan for the UK. We’re of course delighted to be the first ever Advanced Technology to be submitted to the justification process and the first reactor design to be considered since the last wave of large-scale designs, almost a decade ago.
“We continue to progress our UK plans at pace – aiming to deliver our first of a kind commercial reactor in the UK by 2033.”
Full press release here.
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Image: Electricity transmission [credit: green lantern electric]
Tallbloke's Talkshop 
they’ve got a real uphill battle against vested interests: coal, gas, windmills, and solar. Those have always seen nukes as ‘the enemy’.
If by ‘fast’ they mean fast neutron reactor then YES by all means. So-called ‘spent’ fuel rods from conventional reactors that are littering the cooling pools could be reprocessed over and over until little remained, a true bonus. The residual plutonium can be vitrified and either stored at a place like Yucca mountain or encased and dropped into the deep ocean.
Personally I’d love to see a disposal making use of subduction zones. where the stuff goes so far down it’ll be mixed with various melt until it is no more harmful that what we regularly mine.
Quick dictated comment that this application seems almost bizarre, simply because we have yet to get production volumes of stable thermal fission reactor designs working in the UK, so why are these people even trying to introduce extreme technology fast fission at this stage? We need Gen three thermal technologies working in volume before we even think about fast fission gen four.
They also make a massive case about how nuclear is the only scalable sensible solution for the future and very safe that we already know and as seems a bit pointless as UK government and most serious commentators already understand this in the UK. It’s more like they’re trying to convince Australians or Americans. Why? That’s it, Gotta go
Advantages of lead in fast reactors – followed by disadvantages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead-cooled_fast_reactor#Advantages_of_lead_in_fast_reactors
This is like trying to fly supersonic before you have figured out the reliable engineering of safe subsonic flight. It will become necessary as the stockpiles of spent fuel become large enough and valuable enough to be used as fast fission fuel, not until well into 21st Century /when thermal fission is pervasive as baseload grid generation. Spent fuel takes up very little space so can easily be stored securely. Fast fission burns (fissions) all the heavy/long lived actinides, no heavy metal left. Same fission fragment disposal technology required, already developed and very doable, when its needed. Not Yet.
PS Did I hear someone say fusion? Forgetaboutit. Not even a good idea in terms of energy out per unit input resource, if they can even get it out in an efficient way it will probaly have to be pulsed operation.
Works well for 1 microsecond in a bomb, which spreads a bit, OR if you have a Sun to do the containment, not otherwise. Not enough gravitational containment. It’s not a technology problem, its a physics problem that can’t be engineered out. Probably.
PS What residual plutonium do you expect from spent slow fission fuel used in the fast fission reactor when the major reason for using fast fission is to fission this plutonium and other actinides? See item 6 of the abstract. Did you mean something else or I misread you?
https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/459313
Oh, ab another thing. Its not stored in pools for long either. About 1 year to let the hot stuff with hsort half lives decay, the moved to “. I think you wilf ind most of it isstpred in”dry casks” large concrete bins filled with inert gas when full, easiet to get at and no problems that water brings. https://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/dry-cask-storage.html
The French are still reprocessing spent fuel and vitrefying the fission products to re use the U-238 and plutonium. WE have done this but it has now been suspended as not cost effective until it will again be, spent fuel in the UK is now stored without processing BUT the method is very unclear, sounds like typical kick the can down the road and do nothing until you have to government.
The idea of using lead as the fluid makes sense like the molten salt reactors.
Question: How feasible would it be to make flat plates of spent fuel and suspend them in molten lead in lieu of water and then circulate the molten lead to heat water for low pressure steam or hot water heating? Lead being a sure fire radiation shield would seem to be the ideal medium for heat transfer.