Britain champions nuclear, renewable energy in major review - Yahoo! News

LONDON (AFP) - Nuclear power "could" make a significant contribution to Britain's energy needs alongside renewable energy sources, the government said in a long-awaited review of its energy policy

The wording was softer than bullish comments made by Prime Minister
Tony Blair' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Tony Blair in May that nuclear energy was "back on the agenda with a vengeance", and appeared aimed at appeasing environmentalists who oppose the atomic option.
But Blair warned Tuesday that any decision to rule out new nuclear power stations would be a "huge risk".
He wants Britain to rely more on nuclear power rather than expensive and dirty carbon fuels in a bid to combat climate change and reduce the country's dependence on often volatile foreign energy imports.
Environmental groups argue that there are better ways to do this, such as greater investment in renewable energy and a reduction in consumption.
But Blair countered: "With the best will in the world -- and we're going to make a big increase in the use of renewables -- you're not going to be able to fill all the gap."
He told critics to "just face up to the facts" in a BBC television interview.
"If we're going to go from being self-sufficient in gas to importing it, if prices are rising, if we know that climate change is an even more serious problem than we thought a few years ago, how can we take nuclear out of the mix?
"Isn't that a huge risk to take?
"And if you take the wrong decision now, and it turns out to be wrong in 15 or 20 years' time, then of course it's too late to do anything about it.
"We would be completely dependent on imports of possibly very highly-priced gas, with all the issues of security of supply because of where the gas comes from."
Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling, who unveiled the review in parliament, said: "The government has concluded that new nuclear power stations could make a significant contribution to meeting our energy policy goals."
He warned that Britain would lose about one-third of its capacity to generate electricity over the next two decades as ageing coal and nuclear power stations close down.
"Decisions will have to be taken on the replacement in the next few years," Darling told the House of Commons, noting that a wider use of renewable energy -- such as solar, tidal and wind power -- would help to fill the gap.
"Far from getting rid of the renewables obligation, as some have proposed, we intend to increase it from 15 percent to 20 percent," the minister said.
At the same time, without, for example, a new generation of nuclear power plants, Britain would also need to rely more on imports of gas from potentially unstable parts of the world, increasing the risk to its energy supply.
The review, ordered by Blair late last year in the face of shrinking North Sea oil and gas reserves, did not mention how many new stations were desired.
The Observer newspaper, however, reported at the weekend that the Department of Trade and Industry was considering building six.
Darling said any investment in replacement nuclear capacity would be funded by the private sector rather than government subsidies.
The report explores Britain's energy needs for the next 30 to 40 years. A statement of government policy is due to be published around the end of the 2006 after further consultation.
Darling said the country faced two main challenges -- the need to tackle climate change and cut carbon emissions.
Britain's electricity-guzzling households and businesses must be encouraged to reduce their energy consumption through incentives offered by power companies, the minister said, noting that seven percent of electricity is wasted on electrical appliances that are left on standby.
Cleaner energy was also important, with the review setting a target of 20 percent of electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020.
Such environmentally-friendly overtures failed to appease critics who focused on the nuclear references.
Britain has about a dozen nuclear power stations, most of them built in the 1960s and 1970s. They provide around 25 percent of the country's electricity.
Proponents of new reactors, which emit virtually no carbon dioxide, say they would help Britain meet a pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent of 1990 levels by 2010.