No way nukes!
Challenging the mainstream 'consensus' for nuclear power
Dr David Lowry
The Ecologist , 22nd
April 2015
All the 'main' political
parties are backing nuclear power in bold defiance of all the evidence that
it's expensive, dangerous and not even low-carbon, writes David Lowry. Even George
Osborne just admitted that Hinkley C is 'unaffordable' - but supports it
anyway. For a rational nuclear policy, the way is Green.
How does a project
that's 'unaffordable' using low-interest Treasury finance suddenly become a
good deal by using much higher cost speculative finance, adding in copious
measures of corporate profit, and palming off the expense onto energy users?
On Monday this week the Labour Party published its 'Green Plan', in which it stated: "Labour
also supports the development of new nuclear in the UK as part of a more
balanced, secure and low carbon energy supply for the future."
In a televised debate on green issues hosted on the BBC on the
same day, Labour's shadow energy secretary Caroline Flint pontificated, as if spinning from
an EDF Energy briefing sheet, that "nuclear is an important part of the
energy mix going forward."
The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats make strikingly similar
arguments in their manifestos. And let's not forget that at the 2010 election,
the LibDems were firmly anti-nuclear - only to become nuclear cheerleaders the
moment they got into power.
Then, on Tuesday morning, The Guardian - probably Britain's
greenest daily - ran an editorial, 'The Guardian view on Britain's 2015
choice: energy policy', which contained lot of sense on energy sustainability
and efficiency.
They are all are wrong.
Osborne
admits: Hinkley C is unaffordable
By Tuesday afternoon, Conservative Chancellor George Osborne, who,
in Autumn of 2013 had travelled to Beijing to fix up finance for the Hinkley Point EPR nuclear
power plant gave an interview to the Western Daily Post - the local
newspaper covering the Hinkley Point area - in which he revealed that there was no way that Britain as a
nation could afford to build the controversial nuclear plant.
Osborne warned that a host of projects from the electrification of
the West Country's railways to the proposed tunnel under Stonehenge would have
to be scrapped if the Government was forced to step in and fund the building of
a the new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point.
"The approach we're taking with the building of Hinkley Point
is done in a way that doesn't cost the British taxpayer a huge sum of money", he insisted -
referring to his attempts, so far entirely unsuccessful, to lure in investors
on the promise of very high guaranteed prices for the power generated, while
also providing £10 billion in construction finance guarantees.
It's true that most of the capital cost will be carried not by
'taxpayers' (unless the Treasury guarantee is called in to play) but by energy
users through a levy on their bills. But he really was stretching the truth
when he added: "Because we are taking this approach we can get modern
power stations so families have cheaper and more reliable electricity."
But that will still leave potentially huge taxpayer liabilities
for decommissioning, waste disposal and all the clean-up costs in the event of
any serious accident.
Moreover, Osborne failed to address this key question: how does a
project that's 'unaffordable' using low-interest Treasury finance suddenly
become a good deal by using much higher cost speculative finance, adding in
copious measures of corporate profit, and palming off the expense onto energy
users?
Pressure
vessel flaws
This is the latest blow to the Hinkley C project coming after
revelations last week from France that serious safety
troubles have been discovered with the steel used in the in the
pressure vessel for Hinkley C's French reference plant at Flamanville, under
the latter stages of construction in Normandy.
France's nuclear safety regulator, Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire
(ASN) revealed that the steel ordered for the safety casings or 'pressure
vessels' for six EPR reactors have been made inaccurately by the Creusot Forge in Burgundy, owned
by French nuclear design and construction company Areva, now close to
backruptcy.
Astonishingly, two of those pressure vessels were fabricated
specifically for Hinkley Point without the order ever being officially placed
by EDF - and now it looks like the already failing Areva may have two 'white
elephant' billion-euro reactor pressure vessels on its hands with no buyers in sight.
The ASN, which has ordered an investigation, said in a statement: "The nuclear pressure
equipment regulation requires that the manufacturer limits the risks of
heterogeneity in the materials used for manufacturing the components most
important for safety. In order to address this technical requirement, AREVA
carried out chemical and mechanical tests on a vessel head similar to that of
the Flamanville EPR."
Carbon
footprint
Nearly ten years ago The Guardian ran an article by me
explaining how and why nuclear power is not low carbon, primarily due to
the high carbon footprint of uranium mining, milling and the very energy
intensive enrichment to make the uranium suitable for manufacture into nuclear
fuel.
The Ecologist further explored the theme recently with an article by Keith
Barnham in which he warned: "there is as yet no solid scientific
evidence that the carbon footprint for the EPR will be below the Climate Change
Committee recommendation of 50 gCO2/kWh. Indeed once the additional
carbon emissions are taken into account, it's certain to be considerably above
that figure."
A month ago, Brussels-based environment reporter, Arthur Neslen, revealed in an exclusive piece on line that the UK Conservative-LibDem
coalition Government had signed up to a lobby letter - with seven other EU
countries - calling on the European Commission for increased nuclear aid
funding.
In the latter the signatory states misleadingly described
nuclear-generated electricity as "carbon-free electricity".
This is an important policy debate. But it should be conducted with facts, not
fact-free propaganda from nuclear proponents.
So with the Conservatives, Labour and the LibDems resolutely in
favour of nuclear power in a stupendous triumph of optimism over evidence, is
anyone opposing it? Yes - the Green Party for a start. Its policy EN261 is a rare wonder of
rationality in the nuclear debate:
"We will cancel construction of new nuclear stations and
nuclear power will not be eligible for government subsidy; the Green Party
opposes all nuclear power generation and is particularly opposed to the
construction of new nuclear power stations, electricity from which is likely to
be significantly more expensive per unit supplied than other low-carbon energy
sources, and too slow to deploy to meet our pressing energy needs.
"Cancellation will avoid the costs and dangers of nuclear
energy and waste being passed on to future generations long after any benefits
have been exhausted."
