http://www.cityunslicker.co.uk/2022/07/uk-nukes-part-3-ffs-why.html
OK, so HMG is hell-bent on Sizewell C, to the extent that they are kissing the Frenchman's arse to get it done. Since last week's announcement there has only been bad news from France, on Flamanville and the operations of the existing French fleet. This follows upon well over a decade of nothing but bad news on the EPRs; so why SZC will be any better, no man can tell.
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Even if were to be concluded on intelligent commercial terms, literally nobody would dare hazard a guess as to when this chunky bit of capacity would come on line. That's pretty dreadful for long-term planning in a perilously-balanced sector of crucial national importance; and gives the lie to the "only nukes deliver predictable baseload electricity at scale" line, which is about all EDF has to offer.
I well remember the effective takeover of the UK electricity supply by the ‘ostensibly’ commercial French company EON – in reality, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French government (no independent company could compete with the state sponsored behemoth).
ReplyDeleteThis is merely yet more of the same.
Whilst I support the maintenance, and even growth, of our nuclear capacity (just without the bribes, corruption and directorships in the ‘lucky company that wins’ for the bureaucrats who decide on ‘retirement’). The real (deliberate, intentional malfeasance) was/is the total destruction of our coal-fired capacity.
Britain is ‘allowed’ to admit a reserve of around 33 million tons of coal, reality is that closer to 4000 million tons (and could be as high as 187 billion tons) of reserve exist. With untapped oil (as well as shale oil) and gas reserves, Britain could be entirely energy independent and even an exporter (once again).
But … the ‘greens’ (watermelons in reality) wont admit, let alone allow it to be so.
It’s NIMBYism yet again. Russian/Saudi oil good, British oil bad. Chinese coal good, British coal bad. Wholesale incompetence, bad design and corruption destroying wide swathes of ‘the environment’ in Russia/China … is fine. A few specks of dust on a beach here, environmental catastrophe.
The hypocrisy, it burns.
Whatever happened to our BNFL? If I recall correctly, our nuclear industry was destroyed by the last Labour government, between 1997 and 2010.
ReplyDelete