New Energy Minister Describes as Unpleasant Nuclear Power Compromise

Since Wednesday Britain has a new Energy Minister, Chris Hune, a Liberal Democrat who strongly believes that nuclear power is a “failed technology” and supports the theory that the UK should massively increase its reliance on renewable energy, such as wind power, tidal, wave and solar.

In a bid to secure the safety of Britain’s energy supply Mr Hune’s party agreed to sacrifice one of its key election pledges for the sake of Britain’s first coalition government in 65 years.

Speaking to the BBC Mr Hune said:

“This is a coalition agreement that has always involved compromise on both sides. There are a whole series of compromises which have been struck in this agreement which I think are obviously unpleasant for each of the parties,”

Time is running out to build a new set of reactors, nuclear power generation accounts for approximately a fifth of Britain’s electricity generation. Right now there are 9 active power plants in the UK and all except one are due to shut down by 2025.

In our previous article, New Coalition Government could halt Britain’s nuclear power plans; I mentioned that big players like EDF and Centrica are waiting for the Government to make the investment climate more attractive. EDF and Centrica have plans to deploy nuclear plants by 2017 but repeatedly warned that this will not happen unless changes are made.

Both parties agreed not to offer any subsidies for nuclear power station constructions. However, they are in favour of artificially supporting the price of carbon allowances. This will incite capital investment in low-carbon energy generation – such as nuclear operators.

Having a Lib Dem in control of Britain’s energy was what many analysts and energy brokers feared as it could slow down the urgent needs to build new nuclear stations.

Mr Hune, who is a former financial journalist, described his new responsibility of building new nuclear as an “unpleasant” but necessary compromise by his party. The Energy Minister believes renewable energy is the way forward and said:

“We literally have an abundance of potential renewable energy and yet we have one of the worst records of any country in the European Union for generating electricity from renewables, describing the renewable energy share as the former government’s “most scandalous legacy.”

What is your opinion about the state of Britain’s power generation? Should the Government provide a better investment climate for the creation of new nuclear power stations or are renewables the way to go?

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8. New Energy Minister and Nuclear Power Compromise…

   Why is this still going on, tis should have been sorted ages ago, the longer we leave it the more of a mess we are going to be in….

   Trackback by socialwebcms.com — May 20, 2010 @ 7:52 am

9. New Energy Minister Describes as Unpleasant Nuclear Power Compromise…

   Why is this still going on, tis should have been sorted ages ago, the longer we leave it the more of a mess we are going to be in….

   Trackback by smash-up.com — June 3, 2010 @ 6:34 am

10. New Energy Minister and Nuclear Power Compromise…

    Its about time this was all sorted in the UK, other countries dont have these kind of problems….

    Trackback by pligg.com — June 3, 2010 @ 9:07 pm

11. Unpleasant Nuclear Power Compromise…

    With the new goverment now in place, some really important decsions need to be made with what we are doing with our uk power market….

    Trackback by pligg.com — June 6, 2010 @ 4:14 pm

12. New Energy Minister Describes as Unpleasant Nuclear Power Compromise…

    Why is this still going on, tis should have been sorted ages ago, the longer we leave it the more of a mess we are going to be in….

    Trackback by pligg.com — June 8, 2010 @ 8:15 pm

13. New Energy Minister and Nuclear Power Compromise…

    Why is this still going on, tis should have been sorted ages ago, the longer we leave it the more of a mess we are going to be in….

    Trackback by pligg.com — June 9, 2010 @ 6:29 pm

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