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Blair gives green light to new nuclear power plants
TONY BLAIR has decided to back new nuclear power stations, which would be built on the sites of existing plants and presented to the public and his party as a job-creating answer to climate change. A year-long government inquiry into Britain's future energy requirements is expected by the Prime Minister to conclude that more nuclear energy is the only plausible answer to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.The nuclear industry is willing to proceed without any government money on three conditions: that it is supported with planning applications, is helped with nuclear waste disposal and offered protection against an energy price crash. In the past fortnight, the Prime Minister has privately disclosed that he is firmly in favour of more nuclear reactors, and that he expects the coming inquiry to make a case that can be supported by an all-party consensus. He believes the mood among Labour MPs has been irreversibly shifted by their involvement in the global warming debate, and that a backlash from the Iraq war has stoked concern about UK dependence on oil from the Middle East. Employment, Blair believes, will win over many on the Left - especially as 8,000 jobs are expected to be lost during the decommissioning of Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria, which employs 12,000. The Prime Minister's position on nuclear power has been made clear by those who have spoken to him directly and believe he wants to send out a positive signal to the nuclear industry so that they start planning now. Posted by: Steve White 2005-10-09 |
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