2 Jun (NucNet): The UK Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) has
challenged a Friends of the Earth report claiming that new nuclear
plants cannot be built without subsidies.
The report, 'Voodoo Economics and the Doomed Nuclear Renaissance,' was published last week and said: "In fact, there has been no reason, if nuclear stations were economic, why they should not have been built already. The conclusion is that the industry always needs the government to underwrite it."
The NIA said it "strongly challenged" the Friends of the Earth report. "The private sector understands that there will be no subsidy - and there is still significant interest in investing in new nuclear for the UK," said the association's chief executive Keith Parker. "The government has made clear that the private sector will fund the development, operation, decommissioning and waste management of any new nuclear power stations," he added.
The economics of nuclear are competitive and the government's own analysis has already demonstrated this, the NIA said.
