EIGHT PRIVATELY built nuclear plants are to be constructed in England and Wales, including two at existing nuclear installations in Sellafield and Wales, under plans published yesterday by the British government.
The plans from Liberal Democrat secretary of state for energy and climate change Chris Huhne are expected to be backed by the House of Commons.
The decision to support extra nuclear generation is in stark contrast to that of the German government to close all of its existing plants by 2022, following mounting public opposition in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan.
Fianna Fáil spokesman on the environment Niall Collins TD said he was dismayed by the news.
“It would appear that Minister Hogan was totally ignored on the Sellafield issue. With much fanfare, he came back from a meeting in Hungary at the end of March and told us that he had spoken directly to minister Chris Huhne and made it clear to him that Ireland’s absolute opposition to Sellafield remained strong . . . Now, just a few weeks later, it emerges that the British government is actively considering building an additional nuclear power plant beside the existing controversial site in Cumbria, just 61 miles from Dún Laoghaire.”
A spokeswoman for Mr Hogan said the Minister had asked the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland to conduct an independent assessment of the impact the new build programme might have on Ireland. “Ultimately it’s a matter for the UK to decide on their energy policy,” she said.
Two of the eight plants will be built at Wylfa on the Isle of Anglesey and at Sellafield, where Nu Generation, a consortium of GDF Suez, Scottish Southern Energy and Iberdrola, wants to build a multi-billion pound three-reactor station.
Under the plans, part of a £100 billion (€112 billion) investment in electricity generation in the UK over the next 20 years, nuclear companies will not get a direct subsidy.
Ministers faced with the need to replace a quarter of the UK’s existing electricity plants will have powers to fast-track planning rules to ensure plants do not face “unnecessary hold-ups”, British minister of state for energy Charles Hendry said.
The new plant at Wylfa is to be built by E.ON UK and RWE npower. Some of the new nuclear energy will end up being used by Irish households and businesses through the Irish/Welsh inter-connector, due to be completed in 2012.
The other five sites are Bradwell in Essex; Hartlepool, County Durham; Hinkley Point in Somerset; Oldbury in Gloucestershire, and Sizewell in Suffolk.
Nuclear power currently provides 18 per cent of the UK’s energy, but all bar one of the existing plants must be decommissioned by 2023.
