BRITAIN:Britain's environmentalists joined furious battle with the Labour government yesterday as ministers moved remorselessly toward approving a new generation of nuclear power stations to secure the UK's future energy needs.
Trade and industry secretary Alistair Darling announced a five-month public consultation, while restating his "firm view" that nuclear must be part of Britain's "energy mix". He stressed that decisions must be taken later this year about a strategy also promising to triple the amount of electricity produced from renewable sources.
However, Mr Darling's Liberal Democrat "shadow", Susan Kramer, branded the consultation exercise "a total farce".
She said ministers had clearly already decided to back nuclear, and argued that their attempts to justify that decision on grounds of security of supply and climate change did not stand up to scrutiny.
Sian Berry, for the Green Party, said the government's White Paper was "a massive blow to common sense" and claimed government support for nuclear power meant committing the UK to "a dirty, dangerous and astronomically expensive future".
The Greens suggested that if the promised consultation was run fairly and honestly, people would give "a resounding no to the dirty technology of the past".
Green Alliance director Stephen Hale echoed this, declaring: "It's groundhog day. Another Commons statement. Another White Paper. Another barrage of consultation. But still none of the big decisions needed to get Britain on course for a low-carbon economy."
Mr Blair's legacy energy White Paper, he said, would prove "a millstone for Gordon Brown".
Mr Darling suggested yesterday that it was "more likely than not" that any new nuclear power stations would be built on existing sites. However, Greenpeace claimed an official report published after a freedom of information request showed that sites in the south, including Hinkley, Sizewell, Dungeness and Bradwell, were considered the most suitable for new reactors.
Director John Sauven said: "Scientists say the speed at which climate change is happening means that some of the sites suggested are threatened by rising sea levels and storm surges." He also observed that the installation of an SNP administration in Scotland would complicate the situation further: "Political developments in Scotland have ruled out other sites. You have to question where the government thinks it's going to build these things."
However, Richard Lambert, for the Confederation of British Industry, insisted: "Only a combination of nuclear and renewable sources, alongside more efficient gas, coal and oil generation can bring the reliable energy supply we need while tackling carbon emissions."
Dougie Rooney for the Unite trade union welcomed the general direction of the White Paper, saying the UK must benefit from the outcomes of a new energy policy in terms of jobs, manufacturing capability and the development of new technologies.
Friends of the Earth's Roger Higman said he feared that "by investing in nuclear, we will invest in a dangerous, dirty white elephant". However, Conservative spokesman Alan Duncan said there was no guarantee that a single nuclear power station would be built: "Business will only invest in nuclear power if it knows its costs - it needs certainty about carbon, decommissioning and waste."