Energy White Paper
There is much that is good and much that is deeply disappointing in the Energy White Paper.
I welcome the positive noises about nuclear energy. But as both David Cameron and Alan Duncan have pointed out, there is nothing that the government has said which has guaranteed the construction of a single new Nuclear Power station.
For there to be any chance of a private sector investor deciding to put their own money into a new Nuclear installation, they have to have a clear idea of the long term framework, including decomissioning, under which it will operate. That requires a cross-party political consensus. Nobody is going to spend millions on a new plant without an assurance that it will not be cancelled after the next election, nor the goalposts moved in a way which makes it uneconomic.
Which makes it sad that every time there is a nuclear debate in the Commons, the MP for Copeland uses the opportunity to score cheap and silly party political points. He would serve the interests of his constituents better by trying to build a pro-nuclear consensus.
The other major issue for West Cumbria hidden in the small print of the document is the assumption that spent fuel from any new nuclear plants in the UK will not be reprocessed.
If that is taken at face value, it would have massive implications for West Cumbria. Should this assumption be correct, and no reprocessing take place from new nuclear plants in the UK, it is hard to see how the British nuclear industry could market abroad a service which we have rejected for Britain. And no more reprocessing would mean thousands of jobs lost in West Cumbria.
There are people in the nuclear industry who believe it is possible that this paragraph in the White paper should not be taken at face value, that it may reflect short-term political tactics by the government rather than a definite policy, and that there is no decision not to go for reprocessing. They may be right - this government is not exactly known for being straightforward about its policies.
But if this or any other government does want to end reprocessing, they need to spell out how they will help West Cumbria deal with the devastating economic consequences which will follow.
I welcome the positive noises about nuclear energy. But as both David Cameron and Alan Duncan have pointed out, there is nothing that the government has said which has guaranteed the construction of a single new Nuclear Power station.
For there to be any chance of a private sector investor deciding to put their own money into a new Nuclear installation, they have to have a clear idea of the long term framework, including decomissioning, under which it will operate. That requires a cross-party political consensus. Nobody is going to spend millions on a new plant without an assurance that it will not be cancelled after the next election, nor the goalposts moved in a way which makes it uneconomic.
Which makes it sad that every time there is a nuclear debate in the Commons, the MP for Copeland uses the opportunity to score cheap and silly party political points. He would serve the interests of his constituents better by trying to build a pro-nuclear consensus.
The other major issue for West Cumbria hidden in the small print of the document is the assumption that spent fuel from any new nuclear plants in the UK will not be reprocessed.
If that is taken at face value, it would have massive implications for West Cumbria. Should this assumption be correct, and no reprocessing take place from new nuclear plants in the UK, it is hard to see how the British nuclear industry could market abroad a service which we have rejected for Britain. And no more reprocessing would mean thousands of jobs lost in West Cumbria.
There are people in the nuclear industry who believe it is possible that this paragraph in the White paper should not be taken at face value, that it may reflect short-term political tactics by the government rather than a definite policy, and that there is no decision not to go for reprocessing. They may be right - this government is not exactly known for being straightforward about its policies.
But if this or any other government does want to end reprocessing, they need to spell out how they will help West Cumbria deal with the devastating economic consequences which will follow.
Comments