UK Ministers Urged To ‘Maintain Momentum’ Towards New Nuclear
Written by NucNet
Friday, 16 July 2010
Nuclear industry leaders said yesterday they are confident that new nuclear plants will come on line in the UK in a “timely manner”, but ministers have been urged to maintain momentum.
The chief executive officer of the country’s Nuclear Industry Association (NIA), Keith Parker, was speaking after the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government, which took office last May, announced a second period of consultation this autumn on National Policy Statements (NPS) relating to energy.
Mr Parker said: “The industry remains confident in our programme for delivery, despite the delays to the NPS announced today. The fact that all the key procedures are running in parallel means that despite this extension, the industry can forge ahead and avoid any significant impact to target dates.”
Mr Parker said public consultation was crucial to many areas of new build, and the industry understood the government wanted to ensure public involvement in the NPS process was “as inclusive as possible”.
But the NIA warned that any further delay could undermine the confidence of potential investors and companies in the nuclear supply chain.
“The UK needs the secure and reliable supply of base-load low carbon energy that nuclear can play a crucial role in supplying. With a strong and stable policy framework in place, the UK nuclear industry can deliver new build in a timely and cost-effective manner,” Mr Parker added.
Soon after the coalition took office, both parties agreed a process that would allow Liberal Democrats to maintain their opposition to nuclear power while permitting the government to make new nuclear construction possible.
Energy minister Charles Hendry told a nuclear industry meeting in London last month that the government would support new nuclear plants that can demonstrate that they can be built, operated and decommissioned without recourse to public subsidy.
