UK investment 'surge' for nuclear, carbon capture, renewables
19 Oct 2010
London – The UK government plans to establish eight new nuclear plants as part of a “surge of investment” in new energy sources needed to ensure UK energy security and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
In its Energy Review, the government said it also expects over half the new energy generating capacity built in the UK by 2025 to come from renewable sources. Much of the remainder is to come from low carbon sources such as nuclear and fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage.
Eight sites have been deemed potentially suitable for new nuclear power stations by 2025. The sites are at: Bradwell, Essex; Hartlepool, Borough of Hartlepool; Heysham, Lancashire; Hinkley Point, Somerset; Oldbury, South Glos.; Sellafield, Cumbria; Sizewell, Suffolk; Wylfa, Isle of Anglesey.
The review, however, found that Dungeness in Kent was not suitable, due to concerns over the impact of a potential station on important habitat sites. It also ruled out sites at Braystones and Kirksanton in Cumbria, due to concerns over whether they were credible for deployment by 2025 and the potential impact on the Lake District National Park.
Chris Huhne, secretary of state for energy announced the “Regulatory Justification” of two new nuclear reactor designs: Westinghouse’s AP1000; and Areva’s EPR.
He also set out more detail on what will be required from new nuclear developers in terms of clean-up; and provided further detail on the government’s policy of no subsidy for new nuclear power.
“I’m fed up with the stand-off between advocates of renewables and of nuclear which means we have neither,” said Huhne. “We’ll need renewables, new nuclear, fossil fuels with CCS, and the cables to hook them all up to the Grid as a large slice of our current generating capacity shuts down.
“The market needs certainty to make this investment happen, and we are determined to clear every obstacle in the way of this programme. So today we are setting out our energy need which will help guide the planning process, so that if sound proposals come forward in sensible places, they will not face unnecessary hold-ups.”
The Energy Review proposals got full backing from trade unions, Gary Smith, GMB national secretary for energy commenting: “These new nuclear power stations are absolutely essential and we need to get on with building them without further delay. These are big investments and the financing of them needs to be underpinned.”
Smith added that carbon capture and storage for coal and gas and nuclear power are ’the only shows in town’ in terms of supplying the base load for electricity in the UK in a reliable and carbon free way. Other sources do have a role but not in terms of supplying the UK’s energy needs on their own. “
Less buoyant was Friends of the Earth’s climate campaigner Simon Bullock, who said: “Today’s new national policy statements are reckless in their disregard for tackling climate change - they seem to contain more guidance for energy developers on avoiding dust and insect infestation than on cutting carbon emissions.
“We don’t need nuclear power - or new gas power stations beyond those already in the pipeline - the Government’s own figures say so.
“The Coalition’s top priority should be to develop renewable energy sources like wind, wave and solar that, together with tackling energy waste, will secure our energy supplies, create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, and set us firmly on the path to a safer, cleaner future.”
