UK: September 14, 2007


LONDON - The British public are divided on whether companies should have the option to build new nuclear plants in the UK, a right the companies already possess, according to a government consultation published on Thursday.


Forty-four percent of the 1,000 people consulted across the country last Saturday said it would be in the public interest to give companies the option of investing in new nuclear power stations, while 37 disagreed and 18 percent sat on the fence.

Secretary of State for Business and Enterprise John Hutton welcomed the study of public opinion but called for rapid action on building power plants as the country's existing reactors near retirement.

"We must secure our energy supplies for the future. Our livelihoods and the future health of the planet depend on us getting this right. It is absolutely in the national interest that we make a decision and urgently," he said in a statement.

There is now no legal impediment to building nuclear power reactors in Britain, other than a clunky planning system that the government already plans to streamline.

But no nuclear power plants have been built in Britain for over a decade, and none by the private sector ever.

Potential investors have been wary of costly planning hold ups, unsure about the long-term cost of carbon emissions and its effect on power generation profits, and unclear about who will pay for and manage nuclear waste.

Nine in 10 of those consulted in the day-long sessions held across the country said they were worried about new nuclear waste and nuclear safety in general.

Just over half did not approve of the government's plan to store the waste, which remains lethal for thousands of years, underground -- along with the radioactive rubbish already stashed beneath the ground from Britain's existing reactors.

Around six in 10 agreed that nuclear power could significantly cut carbon emissions and help ensure security of supply in Britain but warned against neglecting renewable energy sources in the fight against climate change.

In the long-term, the public wants renewable energy to play a bigger role in the UK's energy mix and for nuclear energy's role to shrink.

The government has warmed to low-carbon nuclear power in the last few years as fears have intensified about the effect on the climate of growing carbon emissions from industry and from the energy sector in particular.

Most of those consulted said that if the UK does continue using nuclear energy to try to cut its carbon emissions, this should be only an interim measure while cleaner, safer technologies are developed.


REUTERS NEWS SERVICE