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UK does NOT need more nuclear power. Electricity demand has fallen

Andrew Warren: In seeking justification for “rigging” the UK
electricity market in favour of more nuclear power,

It is beingcategorically argued that electricity demand is expected to rise over the
next decade (“Johnson in ‘gung ho’ push for more nuclear power as
energy crisis bites”, Report, March 21).

Strangely enough, that was
precisely the reason given back in 2006, when the then Labour government
first committed to a “family” of further nuclear power stations. Based
on the official forecasts issued in 2006, we should by now be consuming at
least 15 per cent more electricity than we were then.

But we are not. Right
now, UK electricity consumption has in fact gone down by over 15 per cent
since 2006. In other words, all that expectation of demand growth which was
used to justify new nuclear power stations was grossly exaggerated, in
practice by over 30 per cent.

In the interim, no new nuclear power stations
have been added to the system. The system hasn’t collapsed, and it’s
also far less carbon intensive.

Surely, we aren’t getting fooled again by
the same spurious rhetoric about endless consumption growth? In that
immortal phrase of the 1970s: “Save it. You know it makes sense”.


 FT 24th March 2022https://www.ft.com/content/41942796-1da4-469a-af7c-a331673ae494

March 26, 2022 - Posted by | ENERGY, UK

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