I’m a huge advocate of nuclear and I'd like to see a lot more nuclear newbuild for civil purposes.
For Hinkley, I’d like to see further development of the EPR technology - economy of scale, making technology cheaper, applying it to multiple locations, and learning from construction practices with a view to constant improvement.
I’d like to see more diversity of technology, allowing other countries to bring their technology to the UK. This will bring competition and different ways of working but will also bring cost benefits.
We need to make sure nuclear has a legacy and isn’t just a solution to solve the problems of the next 10 years. In the not-too-distant future, the UK will have decommissioned its AGR fleet and will have replaced its existing capacity, but it won’t be enough to meet the climate challenges, even with more renewables. We need to look further as society’s demand for electricity increases, because quite simply, we need to meet that demand.
Finally, I’d like to see a new approach to problem-solving. Historically we’ve taken a bottom-up approach in nuclear, bringing in a team of engineers to help find a solution, and I’d like that to change. I’d like us to start at the top and ask ourselves, what’s the vision, the challenge, and the outcome we want?
I’d like to see organisations take a step back, consider how they best organise themselves, and how they can utilise the skills in their team. I’d like to see more of a focus on bringing all capabilities and perspectives together, so that we can view problems through a different lens and work towards better solutions.
