Promote
nuclear power, major union tells Blair
AFP
LONDON
Petroleumworld.com 01 16 06
Britain's largest manufacturing union backed reviving the country's
mothballed nuclear power programme Monday, saying the technology
should be promoted to stave off a "mounting energy crisis".
Derek Simpson, general secretary of Amicus, said urgent action
was needed about Britain's future energy supplies because successive
governments of all colours had "shied away" from addressing
the problem.
Prime Minister Tony Blair last year announced a wide-ranging review
of the country's energy needs, which is expected to recommend
building new nuclear plants plus an expansion of renewable energy
like wind power.
Simpson said: "The debate on the energy crisis is in limbo
and we need urgent action or Britain will face the prospect of
blackouts and soaring utility bills over the next five years.
"The nation's energy needs will be hostage to politically
unstable states unless the government's energy policy promotes
clean coal technology and new nuclear power build."
Amicus echoed long-standing calls from captains of British industry
that companies faced a growing threat to productivity from gas
shortages and spiralling energy costs.
Oil and gas imports in general are increasingly important for
Britain to compensate for a decline in output from its domestic
North Sea platforms.
For consumers, gas prices have been rising in Britain along with
other forms of energy, with a number of suppliers introducing
above-inflation price hikes on January 1 this year.
"As a nation, we are hostage to the supply of gas from politically
unstable countries to heat our homes and power our factories,"
Simpson added.
Britain has about a dozen nuclear power stations, most of them
built in the 1960s and 1970s, providing about 25 percent of the
country's electricity, compared with natural gas which provides
about 40 percent.
Amicus officials will meet later Monday to plan a campaign seeking
public support for nuclear power and clean coal technology.
An ICM poll for the Guardian newspaper published on December 26
last year suggested the public was split virtually 50-50 over
whether to expand existing nuclear power facilities.
AFP
01/15/06
Copyright
© 2006 AFP. All rights reserved
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