U.K. Nuclear Update

The U.K. is buzzing this week after Prime Minister Tony Blair once again said that nuclear energy must be consider as part of his nation's future energy mix in order to curb greenhouse gas emissions and support further economic growth. Here's the relevant passage from the speech he delivered on Tuesday:

Next year too, building on Britain's Kyoto commitments, we will publish proposals on energy policy. Global warming is too serious for the world any longer to ignore its danger or split into opposing factions on it. And for how much longer can countries like ours allow the security of our energy supply be dependent on some of the most unstable parts of the world?

For both reasons the G8 agreement must be made to work so we develop together the technology that allows prosperous nations to adapt and emerging ones to grow sustainably; and that means an assessment of all options, including civil nuclear power.

These comments were followed up with another statement from U.K. energy minister, Malcolm Wicks:

The government will give a “yes or no” to nuclear power by the end of next year following a decision by Tony Blair to inject “greater urgency” into the nuclear debate.

Malcolm Wicks, energy minister, said on Wednesday a government review of energy policy next year would “have to include a proposal about nuclear”. He added: “The proposal could be no it could be yes.”

At this week's Labour party conference, the prime minister appeared to give a strong signal of support for replacing the UK's ageing nuclear power stations, all but one of which is due to be decommissioned by 2023.

Previously, Mr Blair had committed to making a decision on new nuclear stations by the end of this parliament.

Blair's position on nuclear energy evolved over a considerable period of time, especially as he's made tackling climate change one of his foreign policy priorities. But there are more practical concerns as well. The following is from the Times of London:

If Britain wants to have security for its energy supply, nuclear will increasingly be seen to be the answer. The Transport and General Workers Union’s Jack Dromey, advocating the nuclear option, declared that “it would be dangerous in the extreme to become dependent on uncertain sources of supply.” He wants to preserve jobs for his members in the UK but accepts that the public needs reassurance about safety.

When he says, "uncertain sources of supply" he means Russian natural gas.

UPDATE: Here's another item I thought might be pertinent:

Tony Blair must give the go-ahead for a new generation of nuclear power stations by the end of next year if the Government is to meet its climate-change targets and safeguard security of supply, the chief executive of British Energy, Bill Coley, said yesterday.

His comments follow the Prime Minister's announcement at the Labour conference this week of a wide-ranging review of Britain's energy needs which would assess "all options, including civil nuclear power".

Mr Coley said that even if British Energy, the country's main nuclear electricity generator, extended the lives of most of its stations, the contribution from nuclear energy would dip sharply by 2020, making the UK more reliant on imported gas and jeopardising its targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy, Environment, Energy, Politics, Technology, Economics, Electricity, Tony Blair, United Kingdom