New report by Cambridge Econometrics:
http://nuclear-news.net/2010/05/25/uk-not-getting-new-nuclear-reactors-any-time-soon/UK not getting new nuclear reactors any time soon
U.K. Energy Policy In A Muddle – WSJ, By Selina Williams, 24 May 2010, “……….Not all the policies required for the construction of new nuclear power plants–a key source of low-carbon electricity–are finalized and it’s unlikely that any will be built until after 2020, the report adds. Decomissioning of old nuclear power plants and what will be done with the waste have yet to be completely pinned down. And the new coalition government’s decision to do away with the Infrastructure Planning Commission, which the previous government set up to streamline and speed up planning decisions for new nuclear, could create more delays to investment…….U.K. Energy Policy In A Muddle – The Source – WSJ
Some history: "Secret nuclear talks held at No 10"
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/secret-nuclear-talks-held-at-no-10-769989.htmlSecret nuclear talks held at No 10
Ministers kept no record – and tried to hide details – of Brown adviser's meetings with energy chiefs. Brown's special adviser met energy chiefs off the record, before new power plants were announced
Sunday, 13 January 2008
By Andy Rowell and Richard Cookson
The Government held at least nine secret meetings at Downing Street with the bosses of nuclear energy companies while it formulated controversial plans for a new generation of the power plants, The Independent on Sunday can reveal.
<snip>
Between September 2005 and June 2006 Mr Norris secretly met with Bill Coley, the chief executive of British Energy, and its chairman, Adrian Montague, who was knighted during that period. Last week Mr Coley announced: "British Energy is already taking steps to ensure the company is well positioned to be at the heart of the new build programme."
Between February and October 2006, Mr Norris met on three occasions with the EDF UK chief executive, Vincent de Rivaz, and Pierre Gadonneix, the chairman. Mr Brown's brother, Andrew, is EDF's head of media relations. Mr de Rivaz said last week: "After a thorough consultation, we welcome the Government's positive decision on new nuclear."
Mr Norris also met John Ritch from the World Nuclear Association, the industry's lobby group.
The meetings took place during the Government's first public consultation on a new nuclear programme. However, that consultation was criticised by the High Court last year as "flawed" and "inadequate" after a challenge by Greenpeace. Ben Ayliffe, a Greenpeace spokesman, said: "This just shows the extraordinary level of collusion between the Government and the nuclear industry."
<snip>
Additional reporting by George Arbuthnott
Wikipedia has more history, but doesn't mention the secret talks:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_policy_of_the_United_Kingdom#2006_Energy_Review2006 Energy Review
Status
Following a judicial review requested by Greenpeace, on February 15, 2007 elements of the 2006 Energy Review were ruled 'seriously flawed', and 'not merely inadequate but also misleading'. As a result, plans to build a new generation of nuclear power plants were ruled illegal. See Nuclear power in the United Kingdom for details.
Background
The UK Government published its White Paper on Energy (“Our Energy Future – creating a Low Carbon Economy”) in 2003, establishing a formal energy policy for the UK for the first time in 20 years. Essentially, the White Paper recognised that a limitation of carbon dioxide (CO2 – the main gas contributing to global climate change) was going to be necessary. It committed the UK to working towards a 60% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, and identified business opportunities in so doing: a recurrent theme throughout the document was “cleaner, smarter energy”. It also claimed to be based on four pillars: the environment, energy reliability, affordable energy for the poorest and competitive markets.
However the White Paper focused more on analysing the issues than in providing detailed policy responses. Some detail began to filter through in a series of follow-on documents, including an Energy Efficiency Implementation Plan (April 2004) and the DTI Microgeneration Strategy "Our Energy Challenge" (March 2006). Nonetheless, most of the policies were a continuation of business as usual, with emphasis on market-led solutions and an expectation that consumers act rationally, for example in installing energy efficiency measures to make running cost savings.
However, in November 2005 it was announced that the Government, under DTI leadership, would undertake a full scale Energy Review, and over 500 organisations and individuals made detailed submissions as part of this review. Officially, the review was to take stock of the outcomes to date of the White Paper, which a particular focus on cutting carbon (emissions of which remained stubbornly high) and to look in more detail at security of supply, as the UK’s oil and gas production from the North Sea had peaked, and Russia was seen as being a high-risk supplier of gas.
Unofficially, it was widely felt that the real reason behind the review was to allow nuclear power back into the energy debate, as it had been sidelined in the 2003 White Paper. That document had said “This white paper does not contain specific proposals for building new nuclear power stations. However we do not rule out the possibility that at some point in the future new nuclear build might be necessary if we are to meet our carbon targets. Before any decision to proceed with the building of new nuclear power stations, there will need to be the fullest public consultation and the publication of a further white paper setting out our proposals.” The Energy Review was therefore to be this public consultation. A further White Paper was promised for early 2007.
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