Brussels, 11/01/2008 (Agence Europe) - After lengthy public debate, on Thursday 10 January, the British government officially approved the construction of a new generation of nuclear power plants in the United Kingdom, which has the West's oldest nuclear installations and where less than 20% of electricity is produced by nuclear plants (compared with almost 80% in France). Announcing the decision to the House of Commons, Secretary of State for Enterprise John Hutton pointed out that this form of energy was a sure, clean and affordable way to respond to the dual challenge of security of energy supply and combating climate change. Shortly afterwards, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that the “national interest” had won the day in this “appropriate, long-term” decision which would ensure the United Kingdom's energy security. In the Commons, Hutton also said that it would be for energy producers themselves to finance the construction, running and final decommissioning of these new nuclear power plants, with no state aid.
Currently, almost 18% of the electricity (10,000 megawatts) used in the United Kingdom comes from 14 nuclear power plants which date from the 60s and 70s, with the remainder coming from gas- and coal fuelled power stations (40% and 33% respectively). Nine nuclear reactors are due to be shut down by 2015. By 2020, if no new generation power plants are built, Sizewell B, in the South-East of the country, will be the only nuclear power plant still in operation. Hence the need for the Brown government to make preparations to replace power plants, as British reserves of fossil fuels are running out and, quite apart from the pollution they cause, hydrocarbons are becoming more and more expensive. In addition, the British government, while committing itself to significantly increasing the production of energy from renewable sources, such as from wind farms, does not intend to set targets for sharing future energy production between nuclear and other sources.
MEP Giles Chichester (EPP-D, UK) welcomed the decision by the British government which he deems “a rare common sense decision”. “Nuclear energy is an essential part of the supply mix of the UK and Europe. It provides security of supply, ultra low carbon emissions and price reliability over the 40 to 60-year working life of a reactor,” he said. (E.H.)