The Scunthorpe Steelworks in the UK - Should the UK government rescue it?

The Scunthorpe steelworks is on the brink of closure, with its Chinese owners making it clear they want to pull out of it.

Are there trade-offs between the need for Net Zero and the need for security of supply of steel? Are there similar arguments as those around UK nuclear energy production? (a key by-product of nuclear energy, plutonium, is used for nuclear warheads)

Both coking coal and iron ore, the main raw materials for steelmaking, are mostly imported to the UK for use in UK steelmaking.
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The main arguments for keeping the Scunthorpe plant open are to maintain UK jobs and to maintain security of supply of UK-produced steel. But at the same time steel production in the UK is far from being decarbonised, because of the carbon footprint of the international supply chains for those main raw materials, the carbon footprint of the production methods currently used in the UK and the energy mix used (which still has some fossil energy in it).

How to square this circle?

One answer would be for the UK government to effectively nationalise the steelworks, and run it as an innovation project and technology development demonstrator.  The overall objective could be to find out what would be needed to make the plant operation (and its supply chains) both net zero carbon on a total life cycle basis AND part of an approach to increased security of supply.  The steel cost would reflect a real-world cost of achieving both those aims at the same time, and the excess over and above a world benchmark cost of producing zero carbon steel at the most cost-efficient zero carbon steelworks in the world would represent a "security of supply premium".  

An AI answer to the question "what is the most cost-efficient zero carbon steelworks in the world?":

"While it's difficult to definitively pinpoint one single "most cost-efficient" zero-carbon steelworks globally, several projects are emerging as leading contenders, particularly those utilizing green hydrogen and renewable energy. One notable example is the ArcelorMittal Sestao plant in Spain, which aims to achieve zero-carbon emissions by 2025 by incorporating circular, recycled scrap and green hydrogen-produced DRI [Direct Reduced Iron]. Another leading project is the H2 Green Steel plant in Boden, Sweden, which is expected to open in 2025 and utilize clean hydrogen for steelmaking."

A BBC article about the plant's current predicament can be found here (opens in new window).

This is also a useful resource:

UK Steel - 2022 - A vision for the future of UK steel production (opens in new window)