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Britain champions nuclear, renewable energy in major review
By Deborah Haynes
AFP
LONDON
Petroleumworld.com 07 12 06
Nuclear power "could" make a significant contribution to Britain's energy needs alongside renewable energy sources, the government said Tuesday in a long-awaited review of its energy policy.
The wording was softer than bullish comments made by Prime Minister Tony Blair in May that nuclear energy was "back on the agenda with a vengeance", and appeared aimed at appeasing environmentalists who oppose the atomic option.
Blair wants Britain to rely more on nuclear power rather than expensive and dirty carbon fuels in a bid to combat climate change and reduce the country's dependence on often volatile foreign energy imports.
But environmental groups argue that there are better ways to do this, such as greater investment in renewable energy and a reduction in consumption.
Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling, who unveiled the review in parliament, said: "The government has concluded that new nuclear power stations could make a significant contribution to meeting our energy policy goals."
He warned that Britain would lose about one-third of its capacity to generate electricity over the next two decades as ageing coal and nuclear power stations close down.
"Decisions will have to be taken on the replacement in the next few years," Darling told the House of Commons, noting that a wider use of renewable energy -- such as solar, tidal and wind power -- would help to fill the gap.
"Far from getting rid of the renewables obligation, as some have proposed, we intend to increase it from 15 percent to 20 percent," the minister said.
At the same time, without, for example, a new generation of nuclear power plants, Britain would also need to rely more on imports of gas from potentially unstable parts of the world, increasing the risk to its energy supply.
The review, ordered by Blair late last year in the face of shrinking North Sea oil and gas reserves, did not mention how many new stations were desired.
The Observer newspaper, however, reported at the weekend that the Department of Trade and Industry was considering building six.
Darling, for his part, said any investment in replacement nuclear capacity would be funded by the private sector rather than government subsidies.
Alan Duncan, energy spokesman for the main opposition Conservatives, who have been rebranding themselves as an environment-friendly party, pounced on the lack of detail in Darling's remarks on the nuclear question.
"Is there anything in this statement to match the prime minister's macho pro-nuclear rhetoric?" he asked.
The government's report explores Britain's energy needs for the next 30 to 40 years. A white paper is due to be published around the end of the 2006 after further consultation.
Outlining the overall policy, Darling said the country faced two main challenges -- the need to tackle climate change and cut carbon emissions.
Britain's electricity-guzzling households and businesses must be encouraged to reduce their energy consumption through incentives offered by power companies, the minister said, noting that seven percent of electricity is wasted on electrical appliances that are left on standby.
Cleaner energy was also important, with the review setting a target of 20 percent of electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020.
Such environmentally-friendly overtures failed to appease the critics who focused on the nuclear references.
Friends of the Earth director Tony Juniper said: "The energy review is a massive missed opportunity. It is not ambitious enough on energy efficiency and renewable power and practically ignores tackling emissions from the transport sector.
"It's clear that the Government's priority is nuclear power. This is a huge mistake. Nuclear power is unsafe, uneconomic and unnecessary."
Britain has about a dozen nuclear power stations, most of them built in the 1960s and 1970s. They provide around 25 percent of the country's electricity.
Proponents of new reactors, which emit virtually no carbon dioxide, say they would help Britain meet a pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent of 1990 levels by 2010.
AFP 11 1739 GMT 07 06
Copyright ©2006 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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