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Green light for new wave of nuclear power plants: Listen to the debate
BRITAIN is going back to nuclear energy, after the Government gave the green light yesterday for a new generation of nuclear power stations.
However, they will be run by private firms, and nuclear waste could be buried under the sea.
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Listen now to a specially recorded Yorkshire Post debate
Watch John Hutton's speech to the House of Commons
'The mistake of a generation'
Questions and answers
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Energy companies are now expected to bid for multi-billion-pound building projects, – and foreign energy giants will be eager to take part.
Business Secretary John Hutton, signalling that new plants would be built at or near existing sites without any public subsidy, said there was "compelling evidence" for the move.
The Minister last night wrote to a number of companies set to be involved in nuclear building programmes and said he expected the first station to be completed well before 2020.
The announcement was welcomed by pro-nuclear and business groups as well as unions representing nuclear workers, but was attacked by environmentalists, and opposition and some Labour politicians.
London's Mayor Ken Livingstone described the decision as the "mistake of a generation", while environment group Greenpeace said it believed the radioactive waste problem was still the "roadblock" to nuclear power.
Mr Hutton said it would be against the national interest to rule out one of the "greenest and cleanest" ways of generating power.
Foreign giants such as French-owned EDF, German power company E.On and British Gas parent Centrica all showed their eagerness to take part in what is set to be a multi-billion-pound investment programme.
EDF, the world's largest nuclear operator with 58 plants, said it wanted to help build four new power stations in Britain, finishing the first by the end of 2017.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown insisted it was in the national interest to give the go-ahead for a new generation of nuclear power stations.
The Government also published an Energy Bill, signalling greater deployment of renewable energy and increased investment in carbon capture and storage.
Meanwhile Environment Secretary Hilary Benn announced that proposals on storing nuclear waste underground would be published in a White Paper later this year.
The Government will invite local communities to volunteer to host the underground sites, with a benefits package in return. Ministers are also understood to be considering the eventual creation of an undersea storage system, possibly off the Cumbrian coast.
Opponents of the new nuclear power stations have criticised the Government for not developing a permanent solution for dealing with existing nuclear waste before any more waste is created. But Mr Hutton told the Commons: "It will be many years before a disposal facility is built. But we are satisfied that interim storage will hold waste from existing and any new power stations safely and securely."
Mr Hutton said he believed the Scottish Parliament was making a mistake by ruling out new nuclear power stations north of the border and Scottish consumers might have to rely on electricity generated in England in the future.
Tory Shadow Business Secretary Alan Duncan supported the Government's decision, saying: "There's never been a more pressing time for responsible policy-making. Carbon emissions are changing our climate, we are paying 100 dollars for oil, and we are facing a clear and massive energy shortfall. It is our duty to set aside political scrapping so as to make sure we do what's right for our country."
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Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
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Temperature: -2 C to 0 C
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Wind direction: South
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