British government backs nuclear reactors (Climate Change, Solar Power)

British government backs nuclear reactors

By James Kanter

PARIS: The British government approved plans Thursday to refresh the country's nuclear reactors, signaling a new enthusiasm for the technology and giving a lift to the nuclear industry. The British secretary for business, John Hutton, told lawmakers in Parliament that nuclear power "should have a role to play in this country's future energy mix alongside other low-carbon sources." Nuclear energy was a "tried and tested, safe and secure" source of power, Hutton said.

Hutton said the new reactors would be financed by private companies, not the government, and he invited energy companies to present plans to build and operate the new facilities. Hutton placed no limit on the amount of electricity that Britain would be able to generate from nuclear plants, but he also said that companies would be required to put aside money for decommissioning plants and pay a share of the cost of managing nuclear waste.

Critics warned that hefty fees for waste management still could be passed on to consumers through higher taxes. The nuclear industry in much of the world languished for decades after an accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 1979, and another at Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union in 1986, aroused fears about the safety of the technology. But nuclear power is getting new attention in Europe as concerns mount over the contribution of fossil fuels to global warming and over energy security, considering the region's dependence on natural gas from Russia and North Africa. However, environmental groups like Greenpeace still oppose nuclear power because of the danger of accidents, the lack of agreement on a plan for long-term disposal of highly radioactive nuclear waste and the industry's history of cost overruns.

Shares of British Energy, the company that operates eight of the 10 British nuclear power stations, rose 3.5 pence to 582 pence, or $11.44, Thursday on anticipation that the company would form alliances with other utilities and investors to put new reactors on its sites. "Utilities are enthusiastic to build and operate new reactors because there are economic benefits, including continuing high electricity wholesale prices," said Sue Fletcher, a spokeswoman for British Energy.

Among companies vying for the business are Areva, a French builder of reactors for nuclear operators; Électricité de France; the German utility giant E.ON; and GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy. Britain "is taking a major step in helping a nuclear revival in Europe, and helping Europe face up to the energy challenges of the future," Pierre Gadonneix, chief executive of Électricité de France, said Thursday.

Nuclear energy had long been unpopular in the British Labour Party. The move by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to replace aging nuclear plants signals a new acceptance of the energy source at a time when concerns about promoting low-carbon technologies to curb climate change and energy security have become paramount. Rising prices for oil and gas also have made nuclear power a more attractive option. Luis Echávarri, director general of the Nuclear Energy Agency, an organization based in Paris that advises industrialized countries on nuclear power, said the British decision could have ramifications across Europe and in particular in Germany, where opposition to nuclear power has long been associated with leftist politics.

In Germany, a government of Social Democrats and Greens agreed in 2000 to phase out nuclear power because of the industry's perceived safety risks. Germany decided to close all of its reactors, which supply a third of its electricity, by 2021. While some members of the conservative-led government under Chancellor Angela Merkel maintain a pro-nuclear stance, they have been stymied by having the Social Democrats as their coalition partner. Bans on new nuclear power plant construction are in place in Italy and Belgium. Nuclear reactors currently supply nearly a fifth of electricity in Britain but the facilities are aging and the government must shutter them in the coming decades. To keep nuclear energy in the energy mix, it has to lay the groundwork for new investments now.

Greenpeace sued the British government in 2006 for misrepresenting the economic case for nuclear power, and that forced the government in February to undertake a more detailed consultation.On Thursday, Ben Ayliffe, a spokesman for Greenpeace in London, said that the consultation had been flawed, and he hinted at further legal action. "Our lawyers are going to look at the government's energy policy as a whole, and then we will make a decision," said Ayliffe, referring to whether Greenpeace would bring another lawsuit."We believe that there are real, affordable solutions ready to go now that would forgo the need for new nuclear power," he said.

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(Jakarta, Kamis 21 February 2008, 07.39 pagi)

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