[R-G] [BillTottenWeblog] Why Britain doesn't need nuclear power

[Bill Totten]

It is shameful the UK languishes at the bottom of the renewable energy
league despite our huge resources

by Mark Lynas

New Statesman (January 17 2008)


Three years ago I lost quite a few friends by writing an article for the
New Statesman suggesting that new nuclear plants, while not an energy
panacea, could have a role in Britain's future. Earlier this month, the
government, too, lost a few green friends by completing its
long-heralded volte-face on the nuclear issue.

The announcement was met with predictable howls of indignation from the
Green Party and from Greenpeace. Clearly, the issue is just as polarised
today as it was when I first tackled it in May 2005. Both sides are
still throwing out biased information to support preconceived positions,
leaving the public confused and dismayed. However, polls show that
public opinion is shifting: most people are no longer anti-nuclear,
largely because of fears about climate change and energy security.

Some of the anti arguments are also obviously wrong, and don't get any
less so simply because they are constantly repeated. I keep hearing that
nuclear is not low-carbon because of the greenhouse gases emitted during
the construction of plants and refining and transportation of fuel. But
the same criticism goes for any centralised power generator. The same
goes for the argument, often heard from Greenpeace, that nuclear
displaces only moderate amounts of carbon dioxide because it generates
only electricity, not energy, and is therefore irrelevant for reducing
emissions from heating or transport. True, but you could make the same
case against wind or solar (they don't).

Nor is it fair to dismiss nuclear as simply "too expensive". If E.ON,
RWE or Npower is convinced that new reactors will provide a fair return
on a hefty capital investment, that is their decision. In a free market,
we don't need environmental groups to second-guess energy investment
decisions made in every corporate boardroom. Environmental groups are
supposed to focus on factors other than value for money.

Still, the UK is endowed with some of the best renewable resources in
the world (particularly wind and wave, as well as tidal) and could
become both a technology market leader and a major energy exporter if
only the political will and economic muscle could be mobilised to make
this happen. The proposal by the Energy Secretary, John Hutton, in
December - to open our seas to 33 gigawatts of offshore wind energy
(enough to power all the UK's homes) - is a welcome sign that government
thinking is shifting in this direction. The last thing we need now is
for this momentum to be lost because of a huge diversion of political
energy into justifying new nuclear power stations and battling
environmentalists. Nuclear reactors can be built anywhere, and make far
more sense in countries where renewables are less freely available than
here. Because of our geographical position and shallow continental
shelves, we could be the Saudi Arabia of windpower. It is countries like
China that should be encouraged to construct a fleet of new reactors, in
order to try to wean them off the dirtiest and most dangerous fuel of
all: coal.

The worst of all possible options would be to allow new-build coal on
our own shores. Not only would that put us in a weak position for
lecturing the Chinese, but it would commit billions of pounds of
investment into an energy source that will produce millions of tonnes of
carbon dioxide over the decades ahead. Companies such as E.ON, which is
proposing two new coal-fired units at its Kingsnorth plant, try to
wriggle out of this contradiction by claiming that their new coal-power
stations will be "capture-ready". But if they really believe in carbon
capture and storage as a solution to fossil-fuel emissions, they should
build it now. E.ON and its competitors should be encouraged to invest
their billions in wind, wave and tidal power instead - with government
regulatory support and subsidy as necessary.

It is utterly shameful that the UK languishes at the bottom of the
renewable energy league despite our huge resources. We need to turn this
situation around, and quickly. Nuclear power is fine in principle, but
it is not a priority for us.

http://www.newstatesman.com/200801170021

TO POST A COMMENT, OR TO READ COMMENTS POSTED BY OTHERS, please click
on the word "comment" highlighted at the end of the version of this
essay posted at http://billtotten.blogspot.com/