New nuclear systems: international options for the UK

For close to half a century, nuclear fission has been providing reliable supplies of electricity to the UK, with virtually no emissions of carbon dioxide. Over that period, the UK nuclear industry has avoided the emission of over one and a half billion tonnes of CO2, yet no nuclear plant has been built in the UK for over two decades, even though many of the stations in our current fleet are now within a decade or so of the end of their lifetime. Without new plants being ordered soon, the UK's nuclear capacity will decline dramatically - just as considerations of supply security and climate change are becoming increasingly important.