last updated 1st December 05
By 4ecotips

UK PM raises Greens' hackles

UK prime minister Tony Blair has put nuclear power back on the agenda when he launched a review of energy policy, pledging to make a decision on how to fill a looming energy gap by the middle of next year.

A review concluded two years ago that costs associated with nuclear power were unclear and that renewable energy sources such as wind or solar power, combined with less wasteful use of existing fuel sources, could suffice.

But booming oil and gas prices, global warming caused by fossil fuels, an increased emphasis on energy security and the need to decide soon on whether to replace aging nuclear plants is putting pressure on the government to take another look.

"The review will include specifically the issue of whether or not we facilitate the development of a new generation of nuclear power stations," Blair told London business leaders. He said energy policy was back on the agenda "with a vengeance" across the world and that the UK review would produce a firm policy announcement in early summer 2006.

Whatever the outcome, the nuclear lobby and environmentalists agreed it will give a signal to the rest of the world on expansion or closure of nuclear plants.

UK Green Party activists were quick to protest. Sian Berry and chair of the Young Greens says: "It is important that we express our concerns. The nuclear lobby is trying to paint nuclear power green by saying it is emissions free. This is a campaign of deliberate misinformation. The most common nuclear plants, using uranium from low-grade ore, produce more CO2 than a gas power station and many times more than renewable options.

She goes on: "Climate change has been picked up as a convenient argument for nuclear but this is sheer propaganda. There is no reason to tolerate the massive cost, risk and unsolvable legacy of nuclear waste. We cannot let the nuclear lobby abuse public concern over climate change for its own aims: namely, a kiss of life from the public purse."

Dylan Banks describes Tony Blair's stance as "misguided". "We are simply trying to explain to the public that renewables are a real option for today. They can fill the energy gap by reducing it. 7% of the electricity we produce is lost in transmission to its point of use. By decentralising our energy production we will not need to produce such massive and dangerous energy production centres.

"This issue is not about a choice between nuclear power or global warming. Bringing back nuclear power will prevent just 10% of our expected rise in CO2 emissions. This is not enough to meet our obligations to the Kyoto protocol, and certainly not enough to protect our country from climate change according to most of the accepted models."