nuclear-news

UK’s nuclear expansion could be derailed if nuclear subsidies found to be unlawful

The European Commission could take up to 18 months to consider the complaint A finding in Fair Energy’s favour could potentially derail the UK’s nuclear expansion plans – and those of other countries.

UK ‘subsidising nuclear power unlawfully’, By Richard Black, Environment correspondent, BBC News. 21 Jan 12,  Green energy campaigners are attempting to block new nuclear power stations in the UK by complaining to the European Commission that government plans
contravene EU competition regulations.

They say financial rules for nuclear operators include subsidies that have not been approved by the commission. These include capping of liability for accidents, which they say at
least halves the cost of nuclear electricity…..
Although most of the complaint concerns the UK, some of its ingredients would apply to other EU nations as well, especially the capping of nuclear liability.
The US is another country contemplating a nuclear renaissance, with
government support
Estimates prepared for Energy Fair suggest that if operators had to
buy insurance at the market rate, that would add at least 14 euro
cents (12p) to the price of one kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity –
and potentially 20 times that figure.

With electricity in the UK retailing around 12p/kWh, that would mean
at least a doubling of the price.

Campaigners have repeatedly said down the years that all nuclear
programmes are in fact underwritten by the state whether they are
government-owned or private, because the clean-up costs from major
accidents are enormous and the companies involved are considered “too
big to fail”.

Current UK proposals call for the operator to be liable for the first
£1bn of cost from any accident.

This is about a seven-fold increase on previous levels, but still a
long way below the costs of a disaster such as the one that befell the
Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan last year.

That has left the plant’s owners, the Tokyo Electric Power Company
(Tepco), facing a bill of multiple billions of dollars and reliant on
state support – and perhaps eventual state ownership – to survive.

From a uniquely UK perspective, Fair Energy is focussing on elements
of the Electricity Market Reform package that the Department of Energy
and Climate Change (Decc) released last year.

“The introduction of a carbon price floor is likely to result in huge
windfall handouts of around £50m a year to existing nuclear
generators,” said Caroline Lucas MP, leader of the UK Green Party.

“Despite persistent denials by ministers, it’s clear that this is a
subsidy by another name, which makes a mockery of the Coalition pledge
not to gift public money to this already established industry.”….
The European Commission could take up to 18 months to consider the
complaint. A finding in Fair Energy’s favour could potentially derail
the UK’s nuclear expansion plans – and those of other countries.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16646405

January 21, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, UK