New nuclear plants operational in eight years
The government has announced that it expects the first of a new generation of nuclear plants to come on stream within eight years.
Energy Secretary Chris Huhne today handed Cumbria a potential economic boost, confirming that a number of potential sites for the stations had been identified – generally close to existing nuclear energy installations – and that power should be on stream by 2018.
Three sites in West Cumbria are of course among the places in the running for a new generation atomic power reactor, bringing a major jobs and cash boost to the county. Of these the preferred site locally is of course Sellafield.
Mr Huhne reiterated that the Government would not subsidise the new nuclear power stations but said investors had indicated they were ready to press ahead thanks to rising gas, oil and carbon prices.
“We are on course to make sure that the first new nuclear power station opens on time in 2018,” Mr Huhne told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
“There are a number of sites that have been identified around the country and those are generally on sites where we have previously had, for example, nuclear power stations and where the local people are very keen that there should be new nuclear build.”
Energy Secretary Chris Huhne today handed Cumbria a potential economic boost, confirming that a number of potential sites for the stations had been identified – generally close to existing nuclear energy installations – and that power should be on stream by 2018.
Three sites in West Cumbria are of course among the places in the running for a new generation atomic power reactor, bringing a major jobs and cash boost to the county. Of these the preferred site locally is of course Sellafield.
Mr Huhne reiterated that the Government would not subsidise the new nuclear power stations but said investors had indicated they were ready to press ahead thanks to rising gas, oil and carbon prices.
“We are on course to make sure that the first new nuclear power station opens on time in 2018,” Mr Huhne told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
“There are a number of sites that have been identified around the country and those are generally on sites where we have previously had, for example, nuclear power stations and where the local people are very keen that there should be new nuclear build.”
Comments
We are going to need miles of huge hideous ugly new pylons blighting Cumbria and the Lake District National Park, so much for your environmental credentials. Isn’t your stormin Norman Clarkson a Member of the NPA, he despises these tall intrusive structures destroying our landscape or is it just windmills he doesn’t like.
So far as the grid infrastructure is concerned, all that applies whether we have nuclear new build or not. The existing grid is hopelessly inadequate to service the wind and conventional generating capacity already approved and much of which is already under construction.
Nuclear new build in West Cumbria isn't the difference between whether or not we have new pylons, it's the difference between whether we have to double the grip capacity or treble it.
How will we pay for it? Provided the price of carbon is set at a realistic level, and given the current price of energy, developers are lining up to carry out new nuclear build even though they know they will have to include a contribution to infrastructure costs.
So far as the grid infrastructure is concerned, all those challenges apply whether we have nuclear new build or not. The existing grid in Cumbria is hopelessly inadequate to service the wind and conventional generating capacity already approved and much of which is already under construction.
Nuclear new build in West Cumbria isn't the difference between whether or not we have new pylons, it's the difference between whether we have to double the grid capacity or treble it.
How will we pay for it? Provided the price of carbon is set at a realistic level, and given the current price of energy, nuclear new build is commercially viable. Developers are lining up to carry out new nuclear build even though they know they will have to include a contribution to infrastructure costs.