UK energy policy and nuclear power

Last Thursday's court decision giving a "victory" to Greenpeace does not really change anything for the UK.

It simply said that the government's performance (in process of consultation) did not match its rhetoric. So, what's new?

Surely that is the sort of thing best left to the voters to pass judgment on at a general election?

Meanwhile the acute need to replace 25 GWe of old UK generating capacity by 2020 remains. So does the imperative - accepted by the government - to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. So does the looming energy security crisis as Russia is attracted by natural gas markets to its east and south, and the wisdom of dependency on the Middle East oil and gas looks ever more questionable.

The hot air from a High Court and any number of lobby groups is not enough to turn the wind turbines, so nuclear power looks more and more attractive as a major component of future electricity supply.

Those are the fundamentals.

Anything which weakens the resolve of the UK government to grapple sensibly with energy policy will cost the Brits dear. The last two decades of spineless equivocation and embracing soft options have left little room to manoeuvre.

WNA
Nuclear power in UK

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