Britain gives green light to new nuclear power plants

The British government on Thursday approved plans to set up new nuclear power plants “well before 2020”, setting no limits and giving a further push to the worldwide renaissance of nuclear energy.

The government argued that Britain needs new nuclear plants to help meet its climate change goals and avoid over-dependence on imported energy amid dwindling North Sea oil supplies. 

Energy Secretary John Hutton told MPs in the House of Commons that new nuclear power stations would provide a “safe and affordable” way of securing the UK’s future energy supply and had a role to play “in this country’s future energy mix alongside other low-carbon sources”. 

Hutton assured MPs that private operators would be expected to meet the full costs of building and decommissioning nuclear plants as well as waste disposal, bearing in mind critics’ warnings that hefty fees for waste management could be passed on to consumers through higher taxes. 

However, no “artificial gap” would be put on the proportion of electricity to be generated from nuclear power or any other source of “low carbon energy”, Hutton added. 

Nuclear operators said they could have new plants up and running in Britain by 2017. French energy giant EDF has already said it plans to build four nuclear plants in the UK by 2017, according to the CEO of EDF UK, Vincent de Rivaz. 

“Once the right framework is in place we will be in a position to move fast, to move first and to move safe,” de Rivaz told the BBC. A working group has been preparing for this day for two years, he added. 

German power companies E.ON and RWE also expressed interest in investing in new plants in the UK following the British government’s announcement. 

“Nuclear power, as part of a balanced and mixed supply of energy, is essential for this country if we are to have energy security at a time when traditional sources are threatened or in short supply,” David Frost of the British Chamber of Commerce commented. 

Around 18 percent of Britain’s electricity is generated by nuclear power, with the last of Britain’s existing nuclear plants scheduled to be closed by 2035. Analysts say renewable sources would not be sufficient to replace them. 

The government had called nuclear energy an unattractive option as late as 2003, but since then increasing oil and gas prices have helped make it more attractive as more attention is given to cutting carbon emissions in the fight against climate change. 

Luis Echávarri, director general of the Nuclear Energy Agency in Paris, told the International Herald Tribune that the British decision could have ramifications across Europe and in particular in Germany, where the former government of the Social Democrats and Greens agreed in 2000 to phase out nuclear power due to the industry’s perceived safety risks.

Countries such as France and Finland are already building new nuclear plants and Italy and the Netherlands have put nuclear back onto the agenda. 

Greenpeace UK called the government’s decision “bad news for Britain’s energy security and bad news for our efforts to beat climate change”. Its executive director John Sauven claimed research showed that even ten new reactors would cut the UK’s carbon emissions by just 4% after 2025. 

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