New Legal Challenge to UK Nuclear Power Expansion Plans

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Sizewell in Suffolk, site of one of the UK's remaining nuclear power stations

It seems that we?re at a really interesting crossroads in the debate over nuclear power. Large portions of the environmental movement have become more in favour of it in recent years, seeing the risks of another Japan-style meltdown as less than the benefits of more low-carbon energy. In response, those still opposed to nuclear have shifted their argument away from safety and focused on the cost of nuclear, arguing it?s less cost-efficient than simply massively expanding renewables.

Interestingly, Fukushima doesn?t seem to have altered this conversation much. Nuclear operators have suffered from a freeze in new nuclear builds while countries carry out post-Fukushima safety reviews. And Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland?have all since cancelled new nuclear plans. But in those countries where governments remain committed to nuclear, campaigners against it are continuing to focus on financial issues over safety.

Take the UK, for example, where a new campaign group is mounting a legal challenge against what they perceive as government subsidies for nuclear.

The group, called Fair Energy, has logged a formal complaint with the European?Commission, arguing that various policies of the UK government amount to illegal subsidies of the nuclear industry. As the Guardian reports:

One of the largest incentives is the cap on liabilities for nuclear accidents but Fair Energy also points to the fact that uranium is exempted from wider taxes on fuels in the UK, and that government will help with the costs of dealing with nuclear waste.

The complaint is interesting because, while the UK government has, for some years, been in favour of new nuclear power stations being built in the UK, they?ve consistently said they?re not prepared to subsidise them. As recently as October, Energy Secretary Chris Huhne ? from the more traditionally environmental Liberal Democrat wing of the coalition government ??said: ?I believe that nuclear electricity can and should play a part in our energy future provided that new?nuclear?is built without public subsidy.?

But critics have argued for some time that the government?s plans for a minimum price for carbon emissions amount to a subsidy for nuclear. This new campaign widens the criticism to include other aspects of the UK?s energy laws.

The campaign has the support of Caroline Lucas, Britain?s first Green MP, who says:??Despite persistent denials by ministers, it?s clear that this is a subsidy by another name, which makes a mockery of the coalition pledge not to gift public money to this already established industry. If these subsidies are found to be unlawful, I trust the European commission will take action and prevent the UK?s nuclear plans from seriously undermining the shift towards new green energy.?

No word yet on when the European Commission might respond to the complaint, or what further legal action is planned.

Source: The Guardian | Pic: WikiMedia Commons

Source: http://cleantechnica.com/2012/01/20/new-legal-challenge-to-uk-nuclear-power-expansion-plans/

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