nuclear-news

Hinkley nuclear plant put back five years !!

…..The government says it wants to deliver a plan for oil and gas this week, in order to “secure sustainable future growth in the economy”. Some would argue that planning for a sustainable future should not include finite, polluting sources of energy, but instead focus primarily on clean, renewable sources such as wind, solar and marine…..

The government has put back by five years the deadline to build the first new nuclear power station in the UK since 1995.

27 March 2013

As we reported last week, the plant at Hinkley Point, Somerset, would cost around £14bn and this has now been confirmed in the ‘Nuclear Industrial Strategy’ released by the Department of Energy & Climate Change.

The document also said that the facility would be developed by 2030 – originally, the government had said it would be built by 2025. Back in 2007, we reported that the Conservative controlled West Somerset District Council had opposed plans to a new nuclear power plant in the region.

The strategy document said there were “plans to deliver around 16GW of new nuclear by 2030. That broadly translates into at least 12 new nuclear reactors at five sites currently earmarked for development: Hinkley Point, Sizewell, Wylfa, Oldbury and Moorside”.

In a foreword, Business, Innovation and Skills Secretary Vince Cable and Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said: “Nuclear power is, and will continue to be, a key part of our low-carbon energy mix alongside renewable generation and carbon capture and storage. All of these technologies are important in tackling climate change and diversifying our supply, contributing to the UK’s energy security and growth.”

Lord Hutton, who is chairman of the Nuclear Industry Association, said: “I warmly welcome this Nuclear Industrial Strategy as evidence of the fruitful partnership between government and industry in setting the direction of travel for the UK to achieve its ambitions to be a leading nuclear nation.

“I welcome and applaud the government’s firm commitment to the important part that nuclear will continue to play in the energy mix, and pledge the industry’s strongest endeavours to delivering a successful and prosperous nuclear future.”

http://www.publicservice.co.uk/news_story.asp?id=22552

Government nuclear strategy ‘outdated and expensive’

Wednesday, March 27th, 2013 By Ilaria Bertini

The government has published its nuclear strategy, which it says will make the UK a “leading civil nuclear energy nation” and bring about the creation of thousands of new jobs.

The industrial strategy looks at the development of the nuclear industry in the UK, by improving research and technologies, waste management and decommissioning.

It states that there will be over £930 billion worth of investment to build new reactors and that 40,000 skilled jobs will be created over the next two decades.

“Nuclear and other forms of low-carbon power mean highly-skilled jobs, sustainable growth, and the lasting legacy of a UK supply chain”, energy secretary Ed Davey said.

“We need all our energy options in play in the fight against climate change, and to keep the lights on in a way that is affordable to consumers. Not just this decade, but to 2050 and beyond.”

However, green campaigners see the strategy as a step in the wrong direction.

Friends of the Earth’s head of campaigns Andrew Pendleton said, “The UK needs a coherent industrial strategy – but this isn’t it.

“Bringing out separate strategies on nuclear, gas, oil and wind shows a lack of joined-up thinking by the coalition on how we move to a low-carbon economy.

“Nuclear power is an outdated and hugely expensive energy source, delivered vastly over-budget and late, by a declining industry defined by escalating costs.”

Meanwhile, Greenpeace policy director Doug Parr said, “In 2010, the Climate Change Committee identified the low-carbon technologies the UK should develop and deploy in order to become world leading.

“The list included offshore wind and marine energy. It did not include nuclear. Yet ministers seem intent on straining themselves to keep nuclear alive, whilst allowing proven technologies like wind to labour.”

Despite the benefits of nuclear, as highlighted by the government, the new strategy does not outline a specific solution to address waste management – instead stating that the UK will “make demonstrable progress on high hazard legacy waste management, facilities and reactor decommissioning and geological disposal”.

The government says it wants to deliver a plan for oil and gas this week, in order to “secure sustainable future growth in the economy”. Some would argue that planning for a sustainable future should not include finite, polluting sources of energy, but instead focus primarily on clean, renewable sources such as wind, solar and marine.

http://blueandgreentomorrow.com/2013/03/27/government-nuclear-strategy-outdated-and-expensive/

March 28, 2013 - Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized