Lord Hunt, a minister of Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), has announced his verdict on UK's nuclear power projects, Guardian News reported. UK's nuclear renaissance represents huge opportunity and has the potential to supply UK with substantial amounts of home-grown, low-carbon, reliable and relatively cheap energy. This is the reason that UK government is facilitating a new generation of nuclear power: removing regulatory barriers, making planning system fairer and faster.
UK is also creating more certainty for communities and industry.
UK has to transform its energy sector by replacing old infrastructure with high-tech, low-carbon energy sources. Nuclear energy, alongside a tenfold increase in renewables and investing in clean coal, will be central.
Already plans were announced by the energy industry for new reactors to produce 12 GW of new nuclear power which is more than existing capacity. The first of these new plants is on course to begin feeding into the grid by 2018.
Currently, the civil nuclear industry produces 11 GW of power from 10 nuclear power stations and provides employment for 44,000 people in the core industry and the direct supply chain. As per an estimate a new nuclear power station has the ability to provide 9,000 jobs during construction and 1,000 jobs during operation, with many more created across the supply chain. The expected economic benefit would be GBP2.8 billion for each new plant.
Presently, the UK government fully supports a new generation of new nuclear power and recognize that there are legitimate concerns amongst the public. UK is the first administration to take serious action to address Britain’s nuclear legacy. Hunt has recently visited the site at Dounreay, where workers are completing, ahead of schedule, the decommissioning of the site.
UK has the skill, ingenuity and experience required, coupled with a strong safety record.
UK government will soon announce a rigorously assessed list of sites suitable for new nuclear development, alongside a clear statement of national need. It is determined that this entire process is conducted in partnership with local communities. DECC has already conducted extensive consultation to hear people’s views and address their concerns and will continue to do so.
DECC need to demonstrate how it intends to reduce our emissions by 80% by 2050. It needs to show real action and real leadership, and that is why UK need new nuclear energy.