THE NUCLEAR OPTION: FOR AND AGAINST

The UK has 15 nuclear reactors at seven nuclear power stations. Together, they provide a fifth of our electricity. All are ageing and most are likely to be taken out of service in the next decade. That will leave a large gap to be filled in the country’s power needs, which must be filled with low-carbon generation if emissions targets are to be met.

AGAINST

Opponents of nuclear power claim offshore wind – which the Government has promised to expand rapidly – can fill the gap. They also argue that nuclear power is expensive, as an ongoing row over the only new nuclear plant currently under construction – at Hinkley in Somerset – has shown. John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace, says: “While ministers have been talking to EDF about Sizewell C for years, the offshore wind industry has got on with the job and delivered.”

“Nature is already in huge trouble and the sheer scale of this development will make a bad situation much, much worse”

Christine Luxton, Suffolk Wildlife Trust

FOR

Industry experts counter that nuclear reactors provide a reliable source of power when the wind does not blow, and that costs are much lower when the Government invests – Hinkley was more expensive by reason of being the first new reactor in the UK for decades. They point out that nuclear power is a proven and mature technology, in contrast to one mooted alternative which is to keep burning fossil fuels and use CCS (carbon capture and storage) technology to pump the carbon under the North Sea.

“[The energy white paper] establishes a decisive and permanent shift away from our dependence on fossil fuels, towards cleaner energy sources” Former business secretary, Alok Sharma