Mini nuclear plant could power UK homes

A mini nuclear power generation on a site the size of two squash courts could soon provide power to local communities in the UK.

Developer U-Battery – part of the uranium enrichment giant Urenco – is working through the design phase of a project to build the low cost 4MW generators.

The company said that initially it was designing the units to provide back up power to existing and planned nuclear power plants. But it added that the aim was to build stand alone units.

U-Battery project lead Steve Threlfall told a conference in London last week that the system used a stable Triso coated fuel particle currently manufactured in the United States.

Threlfall said:

“The life expectancy is 60 years and it will be refuelled every five years. We see our market in the UK but also for remote sites across the world.”

The project has been in development since 2008 and has been worked on in collaboration with the University of Manchester, Atkins and Amec Foster Wheeler.

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