The (British) government has pushed ahead with plans for atomic power, confirming the eight locations it has deemed suitable for new plants by 2025 in its first policy statement on the issue since the nuclear crisis in Japan.
The sites â all adjacent to existing nuclear plants â are: Bradwell in Essex; Hartlepool; Heysham, Lancashire; Hinkley Point, Somerset; Oldbury, Gloucestershire; Sellafield, Cumbria; Sizewell, Suffolk; and Wylfa, Anglesey.
Charles Hendry, energy minister, said that with about a quarter of the UKâs generating capacity due to close by the end of this decade, âwe need to replace this with secure, low-carbon, affordable energy.
âThis will require over £100bn worth of investment in electricity generation alone. This means twice as much investment in energy infrastructure in this decade as was achieved in the last decade.â
Mr Hendry said industry needed as much certainty as possible in order to make such big investments. âThese plans set out our energy needs to help guide the planning process, so that if acceptable proposals come forward in appropriate places, they will not face unnecessary hold-ups.â
The plans for new nuclear plants are part of a series of national policy statements on energy that were published on Thursday, following a public consultation. They will be debated and voted on in parliament.
The government has given its backing to new reactors as a way of helping meet the countryâs energy demands and cutting carbon dioxide emissions. The UK remains committed to new plants despite the nuclear crisis that engulfed the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan after the devastating earthquake and tsunami in March.
Environmental groups reacted with dismay to the confirmation of the eight sites.
âItâs illogical, and possibly illegal, for the government to keep pushing for a fleet of new nuclear reactors before weâve even learnt the lessons from the Fukushima meltdown,â said Louise Hutchins, climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace.
âCountries around the world are dropping their nuclear programmes as costs soar. And a growing number of our European competitors have turned their backs on nuclear power after calculating that itâs just not worth the risk.â
However, the CBI employersâ group backed the plans.
âThese statements make clear the scale of the challenge. To provide investor confidence, what we now need is parliamentâs approval before the summer recess, so the energy sector can get on with what needs doing,â said Rhian Kelly, CBI director for business environment.
Chris Huhne, energy minister, has insisted the new plants will not get any public subsidy. However, there are concerns that proposed reforms of the electricity market could favour companies building the new reactors.
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