[NukeNet] UK: Nuclear cut back in energy plans

[Mike Ewall]

Nuclear cut back in energy plans

Gaby Hinsliff, political editor
Sunday July 2, 2006

Observer

Britain could be spared a mass building programme of nuclear power 
stations under plans to force power companies to reduce energy use 
and help the public cut their fuel bills.

Alistair Darling, the Trade and Industry Secretary, said tackling the 
'waste' of power would ease pressure on resources and, while that 
would not be enough to avoid the need for nuclear power altogether, 
it would mean fewer reactors being built over the next three decades.

Darling, who admitted he would be 'hard pressed to find anybody' who 
wanted a new power station near them, is said to have told colleagues 
privately that as few as two or three reactors might eventually be 
built compared with the 20 originally suggested in Downing Street 
leaks of his energy review. He told The Observer it was possible, 
although 'unlikely', that Britain would end up without a single new 
nuclear plant.

Wind farms will also get a boost in the review, published this month, 
which sets out how to keep energy flowing as the current generation 
of nuclear reactors reach the end of their useful lives. Planning 
inquiries for all major power projects - from nuclear to green 
technologies such as windfarms - will be shortened to prevent them 
becoming bogged down in years of legal battles with local residents.

The shift of emphasis in the review, which critics had feared would 
represent a headlong rush for nuclear power, reflects government 
fears of being 'out-greened' by David Cameron - and Treasury 
resistance to plans to make reactors more economically attractive to 
build. The Tories are still debating their position, with pressure 
from frontbencher Alan Duncan to come out against nuclear power, but 
are expected to argue in a paper this week that the case is not yet 
proved either way and that the market should decide whether new 
reactors are necessary.

Both they and the government will back proposals for mini 
neighbourhood power stations, which would use heat generated by 
creating electricity to provide hot water for nearby homes - a more 
efficient use of power which Darling said could eventually meet up to 
a fifth of Britain's energy needs.

'The main drivers here are to cut demand: and we have got to exploit 
renewables and the greener forms of energy effectively in a way that 
we have just not done,' he said.

Power companies could, in future, be given incentives to kit out 
customers' homes with low-energy bulbs, loft insulation or 'smart' 
meters which warn customers when they are wasting power, he said. 
That would reduce the amount of electricity that householders needed.

'It's all very well to encourage individuals to change their 
behaviour, but, frankly, asking 27 million householders to do that 
depends on an awful lot of people, and we are all human,' he said. 
'There are six people who supply our energy, on the other hand, and 
the regulatory regime encourages them to supply as much energy as 
they can at the moment. What we need is to put an obligation to 
supply it [efficiently]. If this works, we might have to build fewer 
power stations in the next 30 years than we would otherwise do.'

The approach will be backed by a report to be published this week 
from the think-tank the Institute of Public Policy Research, arguing 
that greater efficiency could cut energy use by 30 per cent. 'We 
should be up in arms about energy that's wasted,' said Simon 
Retallack, head of its climate change programme.

Government insiders say that Darling has produced a 'greener' review 
than expected. 'Alistair has rather cleverly changed the emphasis, so 
it is not nuclear with a vengeance,' said one Whitehall source.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006