• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Blair Warned Not to Score 'Foolish' Own Goal in Nuclear Energy Review

Posted on: Tuesday, 22 November 2005, 09:00 CST

By Gerri Peev, Craig Brown and John Ross

A KEY adviser to Tony Blair has warned the Prime Minister against taking short cuts in a review on energy after it emerged that the government wants to speed up the planning process for building new nuclear power stations on existing sites.

Jonathon Porritt, who was appointed by Mr Blair to chair the Sustainable Development Commission, warned it would be "foolish" and a "very serious own goal" if the government rushed a review to restart its nuclear energy capabilities.

He also told MPs that there was a conspiracy within Whitehall in favour of nuclear energy.

"If you are simply going to jump to that conclusion before an analysis has been done, it would cost the government a lot in terms of credibility and support," he told the Commons Environmental Audit Committee.

Earlier, Michael Meacher, a former environment minister, had alluded to the "conspiracy" by accusing Sir David King, the government's chief scientific adviser, of "spin" for suggesting only nuclear power could tackle climate change.

Any new reactors are likely to be built on existing sites, with Scotland's four plants first in the queue for regeneration. But the move is set to divide the country.

Business is urging Mr Blair to make a decision as energy prices soar and Britain looks set to fail to meet its target for cutting emissions set in the Kyoto protocol.

An earlier energy white paper concluded that the nuclear option was "unattractive" for addressing climate change, but Mr Blair is expected to take a more favourable stance when he announces a review in the next fortnight, not least because he wants the UK to have its own secure energy supply.

Any new reactors are likely to be on existing nuclear sites such as the two at Hunterston in Ayrshire or the one at Torness, East Lothian.

Steve Graham, of Fairlie Community Council, one of the towns closest to Hunterston, said: "This sort of issue splits the community. There are a lot of people in Fairlie who would welcome a third Hunterston, in terms of the number and quality of jobs it brings. But there are those who are very much against it, for very sound environmental reasons."

However David O'Neil, the leader of North Ayrshire Council, said it had a "good" working relationship with both the Hunterston A and B sites.

A new station at Dounreay in Caithness, due to be decommissioned by 2036 at a cost of GBP 2.6 billion, is less likely.

John Thurso, the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross MP, said the site would be too remote from where the electricity would be used. "There is not the transmission capacity to take the electricity from Dounreay to the Central Belt. I would love it if it came to Dounreay because it would bring lots of jobs, but it won't."

Source: Scotsman, The

More News in this Category