Nuclear Fuel Manufacturing

Mark Menzies Excerpts

Tuesday 7th September 2021 Westminster Hall

[Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered continued nuclear fuel manufacturing in the UK.

It is a pleasure to move the motion under your chairmanship, Mr Betts. I know that you are very passionate about manufacturing and skills, so I cannot think of a more appropriate person to be chairing today’s debate.

Springfields nuclear fuel manufacturing plant is located in my constituency of Fylde. It is not just a nuclear fuel manufacturing plant; it is the United Kingdom’s only nuclear fuel manufacturing plant, so by any definition that makes it a key UK strategic asset. That is a theme that I want to touch on later in my speech. Beyond that strategic importance, over 800 people are employed directly at Springfields, with employees hailing from the full breadth of the north-west’s nuclear arc, and with the wider supply chain employing countless thousands more. Indeed, Government estimates indicate that fuel fabrication facilities in the north-west support over 4,000 direct and indirect jobs, including roughly 400 people at Urenco in Capenhurst, who are likely to be impacted hard by any drop-off in demand at Springfields.

Among these employees, roughly a third of those who work on site began their career as apprentices, jumping at the chance of what were jobs for life, as 2,000 people have done since apprenticeship schemes started at Springfields 71 years ago. Among those was the current managing director, Brian Nixon. I hope that demonstrates that these are secure, well-paid jobs, of the kind that must be at the heart of the Government’s levelling-up agenda, particularly in a sector that has at its heart the north-west’s economy with its industrial base.

Beyond the local economy, our nuclear industry is also helping to forge the UK’s path towards achieving our net zero ambitions, having already produced the nuclear fuel that has powered the equivalent of 20 years’ energy consumption since 1946.

[Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)]

I am sure the hon. Gentleman shares my concerns that the UK had to fire up West Burton A yesterday, and that we are now 3% dependent on coal this year, at a time when the Government are talking about phasing out the use of coal for electricity generation by 2024. If we are to achieve our green credentials, particularly in the year of COP26, we have to look at all the options, and nuclear is inevitably among those options.

[Mark Menzies]

The right hon. Lady has made a very powerful point that I think everyone present would agree with. As we look to build towards that low-carbon future, with the backdrop of an ever more uncertain world, we must also strengthen our energy security. Sovereign manufacturing capability must be at the heart of that, particularly that of our sole civil nuclear fuel manufacturing site, which of course is Springfields. One lesson that the pandemic taught us is that when countries—including our closest allies—meet obstacles, they will seek to protect their own interests. It is simply inconceivable that in the thriving nuclear industry of the future, we may be reliant on overseas markets for the core parts of our reactor supply chain.

From an environmental perspective, it is also believed that existing uranium stocks could be enriched and used to make fuel. Existing stocks are sufficient to power Sizewell C throughout its lifetime, and Springfields Fuels Ltd has built an industry hub, working closely with bodies such as the National Nuclear Laboratory.

Let us look at the challenges. Although the future is full of promise for Springfields and the wider UK nuclear sector, significant and urgent challenges remain—namely, a short-term drop-off in fuel orders that risks causing redundancies and, more worryingly, the irreplaceable loss of skills. At the heart of this is the likelihood of early closure and uncertainty around Dungeness B, Hinkley B and Hunterston. With 70% of site income related to advanced gas-cooled reactor fuel manufacture, that uncertainty has seen a sudden drop-off in demand. Given the possibility that manufacturing on existing orders will end as early as 2023, this really is an urgent situation, and retrospective action cannot resolve the issue.

We are also waiting on decisions from the Government about the next generation of reactors—the small modular reactor fleet—with Sizewell C and other proposals still to be approved. Even with approval, construction will take several years, which means a lengthy gap until Springfields-manufactured fuel is in use. That ambiguity is causing delays in ownership-level decisions about the future, adding to the uncertainty, particularly among the workforce.

In the short term, to cope with the drop-off in demand, Springfields needs to find sources of income to support continued work and employment. To date, the redundancies have been voluntary, but that will likely not be the case going forward for employees, management and the unions. I pay tribute to Unite and Prospect for the incredible way in which they have engaged on a cross-party basis to represent the interests of their workforce. I have corresponded with constituents working on site, who have made their feelings clear. Some other opportunities in the wider nuclear sector are also proposed, such as decommissioning, but the site’s unique selling point is its ability to produce nuclear fuel, and that must be protected.

So what are the solutions? As the Minister knows, I come to this debate not with challenges but with key asks. First, it is important to say that this is not a company or a sector in decline. The need is just for support to help bridge the gap before the new technology comes into play and we usher in a golden age of new nuclear. There is a world-class skills base at the site, with plenty of opportunities on the horizon, particularly in the latter part of the decade. The Government need to take a long-term view of the industry. Given that no similar facility exists in the UK, those skills will be impossible to replace. Many of the people who have taken voluntary redundancy were there as apprentices, and the collective knowledge among those people really is quite something. To lose that is shocking.

The vision for net zero looks to 2050, and to lose a key component in a low-carbon industry in the mid-2020s, at the start of our net zero journey, due to a short-term approach is incredibly counterproductive. In the long term, it is essential to have a holistic approach that incorporates as much UK involvement in new deals as possible. For example, Lancashire is already at the heart of SMR—small modular reactor—manufacturing in the UK, and that technology of the future creates huge export potential.

[Liz Saville Roberts]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way; he is being very generous with his time. Trawsfynydd in my constituency is widely recognised as one of the best sites, and the first of its kind, for SMR. I am sure he will welcome the Welsh Government’s appointment of Mike Tynan to Cwmni Egino, the company that will bring this forward. His point about the risk of losing skills relating to fuels and generation per se is critical. If the Government are serious about looking at nuclear among our options, we have to maintain those skills.

[Mark Menzies]

Indeed. If I may comment without embarrassing the right hon. Lady, she is a true champion of the workforce in her constituency, and she never misses an opportunity to make the case for investment in her area and champion that technology.

However, this new technology can be achieved only if the Government set out their vision for the UK’s future SMR fleet, including a regulatory framework and site proposals.

On SMR and AMR, I welcome the investment, particularly from the United States, but a way for investors to demonstrate their commitment is for them to promise to manufacture fuel in the United Kingdom. I strongly believe that a commitment to produce UK fuel for UK reactors must include all future UK projects and the possible transition of existing EDF contracts to Springfields. To achieve that, it would be a huge step forward if the Minister held meaningful discussions with EDF and US investors to work towards gaining such assurances on future contracts and to move some of the present contracts to the UK.

There are many ideas about the next phase, but one is that Framatome could manufacture at Springfields under licence, or that Westinghouse could manufacture Framatome fuel under licence, which would help to bridge the gap without a major renegotiation of EDF contracts. Indeed, having discussed this possibility—only yesterday, in fact—I know that EDF would be open to having a requirement for UK-manufactured fuel written in to contracts, as it works to solidify the long-term future of its key UK operations. EDF actually wants that clarity and certainty, which would go some way to securing Springfields.

As mentioned, there are huge opportunities on the horizon, but without the go-ahead from the Government, they remain something for the future. Therefore, it is key that the Government affirm their backing for UK nuclear and approve proposals for new reactors. With the spending review coming up and COP26 rapidly approaching, I cannot think of a better time for them to do that than now. However, we cannot just think about Sizewell C, which will provide opportunities for Springfields to fulfil the required contracts; we also have to consider the future, over the next 60 years, of what reliable nuclear energy looks like.

Support for other future opportunities, such as reprocessed uranium, is currently a growing area, and countries such as France rely on fuel imported from Russia. We are a neighbour and strategic partner of France, with a strong nuclear safety record, so with Government support and investment, this is something that Springfields has the expertise to commence work on in earnest.

To conclude, I cannot stress enough that, given the time-sensitive situation we find ourselves in, decisive action is needed at the earliest opportunity to protect this strategic national asset, and the Government must do whatever it takes to safeguard that asset’s future. Mr Betts, coming from Sheffield, you will know that Sheffield Forgemasters was regarded as a strategic national asset, and thank goodness action was taken to protect it. To stall further on nuclear would lead to irreplaceable skills being lost and facilities potentially closing. This is an industry with a great future, but it needs the certainty that Government support on investment and future projects can give.

The employees who I have discussed today are genuinely world-class; many of them are unique in this country in terms of what they do. However, they are ready to take on the new challenges that exist. Government must work with industry to guarantee that UK nuclear fuel will be produced in the UK, and give the go-ahead to the projects that will create those orders. If we do that in a timely way, both the workers and the plant would have a future, a national strategic asset would be protected, our journey towards low carbon would be a safe one, this country would achieve energy security, we would be able to export fuels, with the AMRs and SMRs, to many other countries around the world, and we would truly be heralding a golden era. I call upon the Government to seize this opportunity.

[Mr Clive Betts (in the Chair)]

I think we have five hon. Members who want to catch my eye, which gives them about nine minutes each. I am not imposing a time limit, just giving guidance on how long to speak for.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dr Alan Whitehead (Southampton, Test) (Lab)]

We have had a good debate this afternoon, with some good contributions from hon. Members, on the subject of Springfields nuclear fuels. I congratulate the hon. Member for—

[Mark Menzies]

Fylde

[Dr Whitehead]

I congratulate the hon. Member on securing what is an important debate, not just for the future of the plant in his constituency, which we are talking about this afternoon, but for the wider question of our strategic future, when we look at the future of nuclear at all.

I do not want to be a party pooper, but this debate is about Springfields nuclear fuels. There is a lot I could say about all sorts of things, such as the role of hydrogen in the economy and whether, when the wind does not blow very well, other forms of thermal power may be needed. However, we need to concentrate our minds not on the future of our entire nuclear programme, but on Springfields nuclear fuels. What is unique about Springfields nuclear fuels is that it has single-handedly held up the entire UK nuclear programme for four or five decades now. It has provided pretty much all the fuel for the Magnox systems. It now provides the fuel for advanced gas-cooled reactors, and it should hopefully be able to provide the fuel for the new nuclear power stations coming on stream.

The role of fuel is usually unsung, but it is crucial to the whole process of nuclear power. There is a popular perception, which I am sure is not shared among hon. Members here, that using nuclear fuels means finding some uranium, enriching it a bit and sticking it in a pot to make the energy. That is very far from the truth. It is a highly skilled operation, requiring intensely developed engineering skills, which are involved in making the rods and the pellets, which must have the right specification and order for the particular form of nuclear reactor for which they are being made.

There is also a whole load of ancillary activities, some of which have been mentioned, such as the reprocessing of uranium to go back into the rods. That is another very highly skilled enterprise, far from the perception of this being a pretty simple journeyman activity that anyone can do. No, not anyone can do it. In the case of the UK, there is only one company that can do it—Springfields nuclear fuels. We need to see Springfields nuclear fuels not just as part of the nuclear landscape generally, but as a vital national strategically important component of whatever our nuclear programme was and whatever it will be.

It should be a cause of enormous alarm for hon. Members if there are suggestions that somehow this strategically important national asset will either be downgraded or lost in the not too distant future. There is a very real prospect of that because, as hon. Members have said, despite its crucial and honourable history backing up the nuclear industry in the way that it has, it is finding it difficult to get contracts for the continuation of its excellent production activities. I think there was some work recently for the Norwegian nuclear corporations, but there is a real gap in what is coming up—what we know will be an important requirement, particularly of Hinkley C and certainly of Sizewell C when they eventually come on stream. There is a substantial gap between that time and now. There is a real prospect, therefore, of that company—which is owned by Westinghouse, a private US company with no great feeling for UK national strategic interests—dying, not for lack of praise but for lack of an immediate future between new nuclear and modular nuclear reactors coming on and where we stand now.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mark Menzies]

I begin by thanking you, Mr Betts, for the way in which you have chaired today’s very important debate. I also thank colleagues on both sides of the House for the very constructive way in which they have contributed to today’s debate, particularly the hon. Member for Preston (Sir Mark Hendrick), my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys (Paul Maynard), the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), my hon. Friends the Members for Bolton West (Chris Green) and for Gloucester (Richard Graham), and of course both Opposition spokespeople for their very important contributions.

I thank the Minister for her very thoughtful reply to today’s debate. There are many audiences who are listening. There are investors who are looking potentially to invest in the UK, and they will take some heart from what she has said. There is the workforce and the trade unions, which are concerned about their jobs, and they will have heard a clear commitment from the Minister and the Government to work in a constructive way to secure a future for Springfields and invest in the next generation of nuclear reactors, which obviously will be fuelled in the UK. There are also those who are involved in the nuclear working group, and of course EDF are key partners in that.

I encourage all parties to work, in the days and weeks ahead, in a constructive way, with one mission: what do we have to do to secure jobs and skills at Springfields, and what do we have to do to get key decisions taken in a timely way to secure that plant’s future and ensure that we have the bright nuclear future that all of us are confident that we can have?

Next week is nuclear week in Parliament, and there will be many events throughout the course of the week. We have got that off to a fabulous start today. We have certainly made the case for Springfields, but the work will continue.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered continued nuclear fuel manufacturing in the UK.