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Nuclear power won't solve emissions problems

10th Oct 2005

Major culture change needed to 'keep the lights on' say Greens

NUCLEAR power is expensive, dangerous - and won't solve the problem of reducing greenhouse gas emissions enough to meet the UK's obligations, the Green Party has warned.

In a detailed submission to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee, the Greens argue we need 'a major culture change' in the way we produce and consume energy rather than new nuclear power stations.

The party's Co-Principal Speaker Euro-MP Caroline Lucas said: "We face two enormous challenges: global warming and the dangers inherent in the UK's continuing reliance on oil, the supply of which is vulnerable in political and military terms.

"Now is the time for an environmental leadership that sees these circumstances as an opportunity for a sea change to sustainable, local and renewable low-carbon energy systems that do not leave a hazardous legacy for future generations."

"Fossil fuels are not the only thing in short supply: so is cash. The astronomical costs of a new nuclear power programme would divert money away from creating a low-carbon economy, the real solution to global warming."

The Greens' submission to the MPs' review of the UK's future energy supply, entitled 'Keeping the lights on', argues that nuclear power is prohibitively expensive - after government subsidies have been taken into account. The costs associated with commissioning, operating and decommissioning each new nuclear power plant could top £100 billion, says the report.

Nuclear power stations also threaten the UK's health and future security, say the Greens.

Routine discharges from nuclear power plants increase the risk of cancers and leukaemia amongst nearby residents, and the weapons-grade plutonium created as a by-product of nuclear power generation risks increasing nuclear weapons proliferation - and creates a deadly target for terrorists.

Greater emphasis must be given to reducing demand through energy conservation - not just by turning off appliances when they're not needed but by investing in smaller generating sources serving local communities, and losing less power in transmission.

The Green Party's other Principal Speaker Keith Taylor added: "The bottom line of all this is even setting aside its accident risks, proliferation dangers and waste problems, nuclear power is just plain too expensive and in all likelihood always will be."

"The astronomical costs of a new nuclear power programme would divert money away from the real, long-term solutions to global warming. Conservation measures are far more efficient on a monetary basis than nuclear power investment. Renewable energy sources can be exploited - wind, tides, geothermal heat and solar influx will not run out, unlike uranium.

"If government directs investment towards the nuclear industry, the willingness of the private sector to invest in efficiency or renewables will be diminished. Investment (or government subsidy) in nuclear power will distort the energy market by artificially depressing electricity prices whilst increasing the financial burden on the taxpayer."