The disused coal-fired power plant on the Bristol Channel coast at Aberthaw, near Barry, is being put forward as a site for the UK's first nuclear fusion plant.
The UK Government has committed £200m to develop plans for a pioneering £2bn nuclear fusion reaction which would create zero-emission in the same way as the sun by fusing hydrogen atoms to make helium.So far, no fusion reactor has ever created more power than it consumes but several parts of the world are trying to build a viable reactor, which it's hoped would provide emission-free electricity without the radiation problems that come with a nuclear fission plant.
The site of the last coal power plant in Wales at Aberthaw, which closed in 2019, is now being put forward as a possible location after the UK government appealed for potential 100-acre sites in 2019.
It is hoped a reactor could be built by 2040 although there remain concerns about value for money. The planned £2bn plant would only be expected to produce 100MW of electricity, making it much more expensive than other forms of energy.
The Vale council says the development could bring lots of high-paid and high-tech jobs to the region and potentially play a huge part in cutting emissions of carbon dioxide.
During a recent cabinet meeting, Councillor Lis Burnett, deputy leader of the Vale council, said: “Last October, the secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy announced £220 million towards the conceptual design for a fusion power station.
“STEP stands for spherical tokamak energy production. I have no idea what that means.”
The government’s fusion scheme is called: ‘spherical tokamak for energy production’. It is a variation on the previous types of reactor shaped like giant doughnuts where atoms have been fused together to produce heat. The heat is then absorbed by the walls of the tokamak, and turned into electricity.
‘Tokamak’ comes from a Russian acronym: ‘toroidal chamber with magnetic coils’. ‘Toroidal’ means doughnut-shaped; and huge magnets are needed to control the hot plasma inside to stop it touching the walls of the machine and keep it under high pressure.
A spherical tokamak is shaped more like an apple without its core than a doughnut, and is expected to be smaller and relatively cheaper to operate than larger, traditional doughnut-shaped tokamaks. The technology is still, however, far more expensive than wind or solar power.
Cllr Burnett added: “It’s an innovative plan for a commercially viable fusion power station offering the realistic prospect of constructing a power plant by 2040. In November last year, the UK government invited expressions of interest to identify sites in the UK.”
Fusion technology is the opposite of how nuclear power plants currently work, with ‘fission’, where atoms are broken apart. Fusion is considered safer and cleaner than fission.
The government is hoping its STEP prototype, which would see a concept design produced by 2024, could help roll out commercial fusion power plants across the world. Construction would then start as soon as 2032, and the power plant becoming operational in 2040.
Other sites put forward for a STEP prototype include Ratcliffe-on-Soar, a coal power station in Nottinghamshire; and Moorside nuclear power station near Sellafield in Cumbria. The government should decide which site to choose by the end of 2022.
Professor Ian Chapman, chief executive of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, said: “STEP is a novel, challenging and game-changing programme; aiming to realise the potential of fusion energy to provide almost limitless, clean, secure, sustainable low carbon energy in the second half of this century.
“We believe that the community which hosts this facility will place itself at the forefront of a global clean energy revolution — with all the benefits that entails.”
