Mendeleev Program

The Mendeleev Program is a proposal to provide 5GW (five gigawatts) of new low carbon electricity generation and 10GW (ten gigawatts) of low carbon heat suitable for household space heating and domestic hot water for 17 million people - about one-quarter of the UK population. The energy would be produced by a fleet of ships, permanently moored at port cities around the UK. The ships will be standardised to just two designs, fitted either with one or two nuclear Small Modular Reactors (SMR), based on established pressurised water reactor (PWR) technology. The high-temperature SMR coolant will raise high pressure steam [40 bar (abs) / 290 deg. C] and electricity will be generated using non-condensing steam turbines discharging low pressure steam [1.1 bar (abs) / 102 deg. C] which is in turn used to heat a primary hot water circuit [90 deg. C flow; 60 deg. C return]. The shore-based infrastructure will consist of an electrical sub-station to distribute the generated electricity out to the city and beyond and a thermal distribution centre to pump and circulate hot water to- and from- a brand new (or at least greatly expanded) city-wide district heating network

Costings

The cost of a SMR used in this study was based on an interview by Mr Paul Stein of Rolls-Royce to the Telegraph newspaper (19 March 2016), where he said "the company could have the first [220MWe] SMR generating power in 10 years for £1.25bn". Comparing the SMR to the new Hinkley Point nuclear power station under construction in Somerset, Mr Stein went on to say "I’d be disappointed if using SMRs we couldn’t generate power at least a fifth cheaper" and given that the strike price for Hinkley is £92.50 per MW-h a figure of £75 per MW-h seems a reasonable valuation for the electricity produced from SMRs. Regarding heat production, installing a city-wide district heating network would be disruptive and consumers would have to convert from their existing heating systems. Therefore the heat would be offered at a TWO-THIRDS DISCOUNT to cheapest competitive fuel (gas) so 1p/kW-h or £10 per MW-h.

List of candidate sites

• Aberdeen
• Belfast
• Bristol
• Cardiff
• Chatham
• Dundee
• Edinburgh
• Glasgow
• Grimsby
• Middlesbrough
• Newcastle upon Tyne
• Kingston upon Hull
• Ipswich
• Liverpool
• London
• Newport
• Plymouth
• Bournemouth
• Portsmouth
• Southampton
• Sunderland
• Swansea