The nuclear industry鈥檚 bid to build 10 or more new nuclear power stations in the UK has been decisively rejected by the government鈥檚 long-awaited energy review, published on Wednesday.
The best way to cut the pollution that is changing the climate is to boost renewable energy and improve energy efficiency, concludes the report by the Cabinet鈥檚 Performance and Innovation Unit. Widespread fears that the report would be doctored to make it more sympathetic to nuclear power have proved unfounded.
Both the power company, British Energy, and environmental groups claimed this week that the final version of the report would be more pro-nuclear than earlier drafts. In December, a draft was leaked to 快猫短视频 (in print, 15 December 2001).
Advertisement
But in fact the final version, though edited, is substantively the same as the leaked draft. 鈥淏ecause nuclear is a mature technology within a well-established global industry, there is no current case for further government support,鈥� it says.
Unsolved problems
The industry鈥檚 plan for a 10 gigawatt nuclear programme to replace existing stations is dismissed as too inflexible. Reactors are perceived as being vulnerable to accidents and attack, and the problem of how to dispose of the radioactive waste they create remains 鈥渦nsolved鈥�.
鈥淭he immediate priorities of energy policy are likely to be most cost-effectively served by promoting energy efficiency and expanding the role of renewables,鈥� the report concludes.
It recommends increasing the target for the proportion of UK electricity generated by wind, wave and other renewable sources from 10 per cent by 2010 to 20 per cent by 2020. And it urges a 20 per cent improvement in the efficiency with which energy is used by industry, transport and consumers by 2010.
The reports adds, however, that 鈥渢he options of new investment in nuclear power and in clean coal need to be kept open, and practical measures taken to do this鈥�. For nuclear, this means continuing the UK鈥檚 involvement in the international development of future reactor designs that could cut costs and waste.
Predictably, the review has disappointed both the industry, which wanted more financial support, and its opponents, who wanted nuclear power to be completely ruled out and a more ambitious target for renewables. The argument, however, is far from over. There is now to be several months of public consultations, followed by a government White Paper in the autumn.