[NukeNet] UK Prime Minister Wants 1,000 New Nuclear Power Plants

[Bill Smirnow]

http://www.truthout.org/article/british-pm-wants-1000-new-nuclear-power-plants
FRIDAY 13 JUNE 2008





Brown Says World Needs 1,000 Extra Nuclear Power Stations
Friday 13 June 2008

»

by: Colin Brown, The Independent UK


Nuclear waste at a nuclear power plant in Krsko, Slovenia. A June 4 cooling
system failure promted a European Union-wide alert. The plant was safely
shutdown and there was no radioactive discharge.
(Photo: AP)

    Gordon Brown has signalled he wants Britain to play a major role in the
race to build an extra 1,000 nuclear power stations across the world as part
of his vision for ending the global "addiction to oil". The Prime Minister,
who will be flying to Saudia Arabia for an emergency oil summit next week,
said in spite of the risks of terrorism, Africa could build nuclear power
plants to meet growing demands for energy.

    He promised that by the end of the month the Government would publish
its plans for a 700 per cent increase in energy from renewable sources such
as wind farms, wave power, biomass, and solar energy.

    But he made it clear that nuclear must play an increasing role in
Britain's energy. Not since Margaret Thatcher returned from a visit to see
the French nuclear plants has a prime minister shown such enthusiasm for
nuclear power.

    Mr Brown said the turning point had been the steep rise in the global
price of oil, which had caused fears about energy security and left nuclear
energy looking less prohibitively expensive than in the past. He castigated
anti-nuclear protesters, saying that if they had their way, a ban on the
development of nuclear power would accelerate climate change and lead to
more global poverty as the seas rose, and developing countries were hit by
extreme weather.

    His comments came as the Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn, outlined
plans to offer communities money to provide burial sites for nuclear waste.
Areas of the UK which offered sites would become involved in a
"multibillion-pound" project which would bring benefits such as hundreds of
new, skilled jobs.

    But critics accused the Government of offering "bribes" for taking waste
which will remain radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years.

    The new rush by Britain to embrace nuclear power was underlined by the
Business Secretary, John Hutton, at a conference for investors in nuclear
power.

    He announced the creation of a new Office of Nuclear Development, within
the Department for Business, to build more effective cross-government
working on nuclear energy. There will also be a Nuclear Development Forum,
chaired by the Secretary of State, bringing together government and the
industry, to discuss key issues and maintain momentum as nuclear new build
grows.

    However, Mr Brown admitted that the Government is still wrestling with
the £73bn problem of dealing with the waste from Britain's existing nuclear
power plants.

    Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, announced a scheme to invite
communities to bid for the waste to be stored in deep geological tunnels in
their area in return for an estimated £1bn of taxpayers' money to be
invested in their region.

    Green groups immediately attacked the plan as bribery. Caroline Lucas
MEP whose South-East England constituency is home to two nuclear power
plants at Dungeness, said: "Brown's bung-and-bribe strategy shows that he
knows just how unworkable his nuclear plans really are."

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