We split the atom
The deep roots of nuclear power in the North
As the country transitions away from fossil fuels to clean energy, Warrington is a perhaps surprising microcosm of this shift.
The image above shows the now closed Fiddler’s Ferry power station. Opened in 1971, it closed in 2020, having spent almost fifty years burning coal to produce electricity.
Yet on the other side of the borough, a business park - with a longer history - is key to the future of clean energy and the civil nuclear industry not just in the North but across the country.
The nearest nuclear power station may be 40 miles away, but this business park on the edge of Warrington is a hive of nuclear activity. And it is emblematic of the deep links between the North of England and nuclear power.
Formerly the site of a munitions factory during the Second World War, the area was chosen in 1946 to house what would become part of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).1
The nuclear industry in the area grew, with the UKAEA overseeing all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle from new build to decommissioning.
Bringing it to the present day, over 5,000 nuclear industry specialists are still employed in the area. This includes publicly controlled Sellafield Limited, focused on decommissioning including the Sellafield site in Cumbria, and also firms like Rolls Royce SMR with a clear focus on the nuclear industry of the future through plans for small modular reactors.
And as the government looks to develop 12 new towns, it is also interesting to note that plans for the Warrington New Town developed around the site, highlighting the key link between government industrial strategy and housing.
But the history of nuclear energy in the North goes much deeper.
Between 1914 and 1919, Rutherford’s experiments in Manchester led to the first splitting of the atom. By firing alpha particles at nitrogen atoms, it was found that parts split off - though it would take later work to understand what was really going on.2
This laid the groundwork for the later discovery of nuclear fission - and all the implications for war, energy and other issues that such a momentous finding has entailed.
In 1956, the Queen opened Calder Hall in Cumbria (on the site known as ‘Sellafield’). This was the UK’s first nuclear power station and perhaps the world’s first ‘large scale’ one for generating power.
In total, three locations in the North have been home to nuclear power generation. Though whilst most other sites across the UK have closed, in the North it is only the Sellafield site in Cumbria that is no longer responsible for producing nuclear energy - even if there is still a large nuclear industry there focused on the wider lifecycle.
In fact, of the five nuclear power stations still active in the UK, three are located in the North of England - with two in Heysham and the other in Hartlepool. Together these sites are responsible for around 5% of GB electricity generation, though they will reach the end of their lifespan in the coming years.
In terms of employment, the Nuclear Industry Association produces an analysis of jobs engaged in the civil nuclear industry.3 Two of the top five constituencies across the UK are in the North as follows.
Tiverton & Minehead - 23,281 - site of Hinkley Point C construction
Whitehaven & Workington - 16,648 - site of Sellafield
Warrington North - 5,538 - site of Birchwood Park
Didcot & Wantage - 5,225 - home of the UK Atomic Energy Agency
Mid Derbyshire - 4,853 - home of Rolls Royce PLC
Looking to the future, there are numerous exciting developments planned for the nuclear industry of the North. These range across the whole of the region from Warrington to Hartlepool and from Cumbria to Rotherham. I will look at these in a future newsletter - always open to suggestions via comments or email.
Modern economics often talks about the importance of ‘clusters’ in economic activity - bringing together similar industries in similar locations so they can share ideas, potential employees and supply chains.
The North’s nuclear cluster is built on a history and expertise built up over decades, with the potential to create the jobs and energy of the future.
Apparently the location of the first ‘splitting of the atom’ is highly contested. A BBC article lays out the various claims but I’ll be backing Manchester as per the title of this post.
You might also find this useful. NWDA and GONW spent a lot of time promoting the industry in the NW. Pity that Blair decided to lociare tge next generation synchrontron in Oxfordshire and the Coalition put nuclear power back years https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmnwest.htm
We always used to say that the NW was the only part of the UK with the full range of nuclear expertise from fuel, through power generation to decommissioning, all underpinned by world class research (the National Nuclear Laboratory and the Dalton Institute in Manchester). And Daresbury (although in Halton rather than Warrington) was also originally a nuclear research facility. l