Abandoning the UK’s ambitions for a number of new nuclear power stations would cause carbon emissions to spike and push up energy costs, according to lobbyists led by a former Tory MP. The New Nuclear Watch Institute warned against what it called the “folly of technological tribalism” of pursuing a future powered by renewables and gas-fired power stations, rather than any new nuclear plants. Excluding nuclear would cause the UK to emit millions of extra tonnes of carbon dioxide and put the country’s carbon targets out of reach, the group concluded in a report due to be published on Thursday. The group compared a worst-case scenario – where old nuclear plants are rapidly phased out, Hinkley Point C is cancelled, no nuclear plants are built and offshore windfarms and gas plants fill the gap – with one where nuclear plants account for nearly half of electricity generation by 2030.
Guardian 26th Sept 2018 read more »