The UK energy review and nuclear power

Journal article

The danger with the DTI’s Energy Review is that it will give the wrong answers to some questions that do not need answering, and fail to address those that do need answers.

Nuclear is a case in point. The prime question here is whether nuclear has a role to play in reducing carbon emissions. The Prime Minister seems to have decided that the answer is yes. And he must be right. Faced with a global warming crisis it would be extraordinary folly to rule out one possible avenue. But the critics, not excluding some respected bodies and individuals, are effectively saying that a choice has to be made by the government between nuclear and renewables, and nuclear should be ruled out. The argument runs that renewables are capable of solving the problem; that no nuclear capacity will be available until 2016 at the earliest, and so it is not worth embarking on a new nuclear programme; and that we cannot manage the pursuit of both renewables and nuclear at the same time – a new nuclear programme would crowd out renewables.

Authors: Henderson, C

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
• Journal: Oxford Energy Forum
• Volume: August 2006
• Issue: 66
• Pages: 11-12
• Publication date: 2006-08-01
• Edition: Publisher's version
• ISSN: 0959-7727
• Language: English
• Keywords: OIES