BRITAIN: The British government published its long-awaited energy review yesterday and finally confirmed its support for a new generation of nuclear power stations.
Continuing the government's pre-publication public relations offensive, prime minister Tony Blair was at Whitstable flagging-up the review's commitment to see 20 per cent of the UK's electricity coming from renewable sources by 2010.
However, the nuclear option was at the heart of the review unveiled to MPs by trade and industry secretary Alistair Darling, with its promise of new planning laws to fast-track planning applications for new "pre-licensed" plants.
The new laws will aim to cut the time from submission of a plan to final approval from six years to two, with pre-licensing to show the proposed plant is safe, apparently preventing local objectors forcing lengthy inquiries on grounds of safety.
In his Commons statement, Mr Darling said "safety and security" would be "paramount" in the building of new plants.
Confirming it would be for the private sector to initiate, fund and operate the new plants - thought likely to be at least six - and to cover the costs of decommissioning and their share of waste management costs, Mr Darling said: "The government has concluded that new nuclear power stations could make a significant contribution to meeting our energy goals."
Opponents of the plan say the government still does not have a long-term plan for dealing with the waste resulting from the last generation of nuclear processors.
However, Mr Blair last night brushed-off charges of a government U-turn since its 2003 review, insisting that Britain was moving toward gas-dependency and had, meanwhile, discovered more about the challenges of climate change, and so could not "take nuclear out of it".
Mr Darling stressed the government's belief that a mix of energy supply remained essential. "We should not be over-dependent on one source. That's especially so if we are to maintain security of supply in the future," he said.
Decisions would have had to be taken in the next few years, he explained, if the UK was not to see the proportion of electricity generated by nuclear fall from just under 20 per cent today to just 6 per cent in 15 years.
And while some of that capacity could and should be replaced by renewables, said Mr Darling, it was likely that some of it would have to be replaced by imported gas.
Mr Darling announced that a coal forum would be established to help producers and suppliers look at developing coal-fired energy generation. And he signalled a range of initiatives to encourage employers and homeowners to be more energy efficient.
Far from abandoning the government's renewables obligation, Mr Darling confirmed they were increasing it from 15 per cent to 20 per cent.
However, with much of the detail awaiting a further government White Paper, Conservative spokesman Alan Duncan told Mr Darling: "There is nothing new here."
Heaping scorn on the review, Mr Duncan said: "This review has been much heralded. But sadly you announced almost nothing today. After months of work, thousands of submissions and hundreds of hours of work by civil servants, the conclusion was that nuclear could make a significant contribution. This statement isn't carbon free, it is content free."
While welcoming much of what the government was proposing, Liberal Democrat spokesman Ed Davey asked: "Isn't it possible to go further and faster on energy efficiency? Isn't there a huge danger that by going nuclear, the government will undermine and crowd out investment in energy efficiency and renewables?"
Mr Darling replied that while he was happy to seek consensus, "if the Liberal Democrats are serious about these things, they have to be prepared to face up to the difficult and unpopular decisions, as well as the populist ones". However, Mr Duncan charged that, even on the government's own preferred nuclear option, the review was unclear.
"The prime minister's rhetoric is nothing more than that - just rhetoric. The prime minister says he wants new nuclear power stations, but this review does not tell us how he is going to make it happen."
Mr Duncan also asserted the government was shifting toward the Conservative position: "They now say they want to streamline the planning system. We agree with that. They say there will be no subsidies for nuclear.
"We agree with that." But on all these issues, he went on: "Where is the action?"
Power plans: main points
- New nuclear power stations to make significant contribution to the UK's future energy goals. Electricity companies will provide 20 per cent of energy from renewables.
- Further research into carbon storage.
- There will be new efficiency rules for new homes and offices.
- More investment in greener forms of transport.
- Consultations on banding rules on renewables to encourage growth of offshore wind power and tidal plants.
- A government White Paper will be published around the turn of the year on energy policy for the next 30 to 40 years.