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The increasing risk of climate change impact on the UK’s nuclear infrastructure
13/3/2024
8 min read
Feature
Climate change is having an increasing impact on the UK’s nuclear infrastructure, writes technical services provider ABS Group UK office Principal Engineer Andrew Buckley, suggesting that threats associated with increasing extreme weather events require a reassessment of nuclear power plant risk-analysis – both now and into the future.
In its 2021 energy briefing reports, UK Climate Risk, an independent body set up by the Climate Change Committee (CCC), highlighted that all energy-related infrastructure in the UK is at risk from the impacts of climate change, especially due to the changing frequency and intensity of surface water and coastal flooding.
Climate change impact – both today and in the future – is changing the way the nuclear industry needs to look at safeguarding its infrastructure. It is ramping up risk levels – especially where the ageing infrastructure of current sites is concerned, and the speed of change is causing existing design review periods to be reconsidered.
Increasing extreme weather episodes in the UK are bringing with them heavier loads than the existing (and in some cases ageing) infrastructure was originally designed for. Nuclear installation operators are facing a growing need to review and reassess the wider risks associated with climate change and the increased hazards it represents.