Letters: Debunking the myth of nuclear power

MP David Morris is still banging on about a Heysham 3 new nuclear power station. He should perhaps look at the plans for the UK, as outlined by the World Nuclear Association, that don't mention Heysham at all in the timetable for the next decade.
By The Newsroom
Published 12th Oct 2018, 15:21 BST
Updated 13th Oct 2018, 07:34 BST
Heysham Power StationHeysham Power Station
Heysham Power Station

He talks about the value of nuclear to the economy but doesn’t mention the fact that the UK taxpayer is subsidising nuclear energy to the tune of billions per year, with this Government committing the country to decades of support, most of which is highly risky. Then there’s the £117bn it will cost to decommission the existing nuclear sites. This will take 120 years, who’s paying for that? We are! Where is all the profit going from the nuclear industry that the UK taxpayer is propping up? Well, British Nuclear collapsed in 2012, the vast majority of our nuclear industry is owned by France, China, Japan and Germany among others. Heaven forbid we should upset any of those countries. All of this for just 20.9 per cent of the UK’s electricity supply, whereas energy from renewable sources is now 29.4 per cent – both 2017 Government figures. This Government has slashed subsidies to the solar sector by 20 per cent a year since 2014 and placed a moratorium on any new renewable projects until 2025. If the renewables sector got just a fraction of the billions nuclear gets and the £6bn that we pay in subsidies to the fossil fuel sector, including fracking, we would not need any new nuclear power stations… and it doesn’t cost billions and take 120 years to remove solar panels when they past their sell by date.Ian HughesMorecambe

Related topics:David MorrisHeyshamGovernmentGermanyJapanChina