British government launches nuclear (PR) attack! - November 09, 2009
The Labour government hit the airwaves today to push its plans for new energy production, and in particular nuclear power. Ed Miliband, the Secretary of Energy and Climate Change, was on just about every show imaginable this morning with a single message: It's time to fast-track new nuclear plants in England.
This afternoon, the government announced that 10 of 11 perspective sites would be eligible for new construction. By my count, all but two of the sites (Braystones and Kirkstanton) already host nuclear power plants. At present around nuclear contributes about 15% of the UK's total electricity needs. The government hopes that the new reactors can contribute a quarter of the UK's power by 2025.
The Times mentions another part of the government's plan: a deep geological repository for high level nuclear waste. According to the story, the repository could cost £18 billion, but there aren't a lot of details beyond that. Even the 306-page draft nuclear national policy statement doesn't say much, aside from the fact that such a facility should be built.
Responding to a question in the House of Commons, Miliband admitted that "deep geological storage is a long way off." Still, he said, several communities in West Cumbria have come forward. I wonder who that would be.
Criticism of the nuclear scheme was loud and (in characteristic British political fashion) insubstantial. Greg Clark the conservative shadow energy secretary decried the plan as not coming soon enough, while the Liberal Democrats said more money should be spent on renewables. Maybe it's my American ignorance, but I failed to see any serious opposition to the proposed new policy.
It wasn't all nuclear news, the government also released policy plans for renewables, coal and natural gas, all of which you can read here.
