Nuclear could represent 50% of UK's generation capacity in 2050: official

London (Platts)--11Sep2014/823 am EDT/1223 GMT

Nuclear generation could constitute up to 50% of the UK's electricity generating capacity in 2050, under one of the UK government's scenarios for meeting the country's 2050 climate change goals, a leading government official told a London nuclear industry conference.

David King, the UK Foreign Office's special representative for climate change, told the WNA Symposium conference 2014 in London Thursday that "every tool in the box was needed to combat climate change."

King cited an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions, de-fossilization of the country's national power grid and the transfer of surface transport on the national grid as being among the country's "ambitious" 2050 climate change goals.

King also said that if the nuclear industry "pushes too hard" for its expansion, "it will get resistance," adding that "this is happening in South Korea today."

We cannot use climate change as an excuse to push for nuclear expansion," King told the conference.

He also said UK utilities had "wavered" in their pursuit of new nuclear, citing the example of E.On UK, which previously had supported the expansion of nuclear in the country, but had now changed its mind after a change of policy in Germany to phase out nuclear and not build new units after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011.

--Oliver Adelman, oliver.adelman@platts.com
--Edited by Jonathan Fox, jonathan.fox@platts.com

Similar stories appear in Nucleonics Week See more information at http://www.platts.com/Products/nucleonicsweek

© 2014 Platts, The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.  To subscribe or visit go to:  http://www.platts.com

http://www.platts.com/latest-news/electric-power/london/nuclear-could-represent-50-of-uks-generation-26878663