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By NIA Chairman, Philip Dewhurst
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| Philip Dewhurst, NIA Chairman |
The Prime Minister's announcement at Labour Party conference that next year's energy policy review will include serious consideration of the role of nuclear energy provides the nuclear industry with the best opportunity for many years to make a compelling case for new nuclear build to be part of Britain's future energy mix. The twin strategic drivers of climate change and security of energy supply are more acute now than they appeared to be only two years ago when the last energy White Paper all but dismissed the claims of nuclear energy to be part of the solution. But a great deal has changed in two years, and attention is now firmly focused on energy and environmental problems, and increasingly on the role that nuclear energy can play in addressing them.
Spiralling oil and gas prices feeding through to higher petrol and electricity prices for consumers; threats of gas supply interruptions to industrial customers this winter; images from the USA of the devastation that extreme weather can wreak on societies. These are immediate concerns. But, when taken together with the prospect of a significant loss of generating capacity as coal and nuclear stations are retired in the next ten years, and the risks to the cost and security of energy supply as Britain becomes a net importer of oil and gas, they point to the urgent need for a clear and dispassionate look at the nation's longer term energy needs.
The achievement of a high growth, secure and reliable, low carbon energy economy demands a reappraisal of the nuclear option. The industry has to be ready when that reappraisal takes place with arguments and facts that demonstrate that new nuclear is a safe and affordable source of reliable low carbon electricity. Effectively addressing the legacy issues of decommissioning and waste management, and demonstrating the industry's competence in these areas, will be crucial to winning public and political support for new build. I am confident that the industry, working with and through NIA, can rise to those challenges.
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