Wicks presents nuclear distraction

Greenpeace has criticised an official report urging the government to expand Britain’s nuclear energy production.

The report by former energy minister Malcolm Wicks said increasing Britain’s nuclear capacity is vital to the UK’s future energy security.

“Energy reserves are concentrated in some of the most unstable parts of the world,” Wicks said.

“As we move out of recession, the global grab for energy will resume in earnest, consumption is predicted to rise, and with it prices.

“To enhance energy security and reduce our reliance on imports, a range between, say, 35-40 per cent of electricity from nuclear could be a sensible aspiration beyond 2030.”

Nuclear currently supplies around 12.5% of the UK’s energy needs.

Greenpeace dismissed the report as “a dangerous distraction from the real solutions to climate change and energy security”.

“With the costs of nuclear reactors soaring to around seven billion euros, and the only plants being built in the western world plagued with safety, financial and construction problems, it’s clear where the UK’s priorities should lie,” said Robin Oakley, Greenpeace climate and energy spokesperson.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary Simon Hughes attacked Wicks’s report as scare tactics.

“This review is an attempt to scare the British public into accepting new nuclear power stations,” Hughes said.

“But energy security does not have to mean capitulation to massive nuclear subsidies.

“Britain needs a massive expansion of renewable energy that builds on the advantage of our natural resources.”