Professor Kemp (Letters, 1 January) thinks we need nuclear power and should just get on with it. I wonder whether he has consulted the Finns, who in 2000 commissioned a nuclear power station at Olkiluoto from the same consortium set to start in the UK. In May 2009 the plant was at least three and a half years behind schedule and more than 50% over budget. The commissioning deadline has been postponed several times and as of June 2010 operation is set to start in 2013.
Nuclear power is not emissions free. According to one report, low-grade uranium would increase CO2 emissions close to those of a gas-fired plant. Investment in renewables and co-generation declined when the existing four Finnish nuclear power stations were connected to the grid. If the Finns had voted against the nuclear option in 1993, it would have given a big boost to the renewables industry and created many jobs. One great difference between Finland and the UK is that the area of Finland is vast in relation to its population. Even so they have grave concerns for the danger that radioactive contaminates will leech out from their stores of nuclear waste into subterranean aquifers.
Kate Macintosh
Winchester
? Roger Kemp argues that we need to give extra funds for more nuclear power to keep the lights on. Yet the government, in its national policy statement, plans to have no more than 50% of electricity supplied by non-fossil sources. Most of the rest, presumably, would come from gas. In fact, under the proposals we will be lucky to get more than 20% from renewables, with more from nuclear. There are plenty of technical options for balancing even a 50% renewable share of electricity supply, given recent advances in wind power predictive techniques. By contrast, as witnessed by the blackouts in May 2008 triggered by problems at Sizewell B nuclear power station, it is unexpected breakdowns at large centralised plants that threaten to plunge large numbers of people into the dark.
University of Birmingham
? As Caroline Spelman (Letters, 1 January) and Professor Kemp comment, there is unfinished business in reducing carbon and achieving sustainability in UK energy policy. Modest investments, both public and private, in energy conservation and efficiency will pay immediate dividends and help reduce the current waste of half the energy we consume. Electricity only supplies about 10% of our energy demand, so bigger savings can be got in tackling the other 90%, of mostly gas, oil and coal used for transport, industrial processes and building heating. When we have reduced our energy consumption by wasting less, then investment in new "fuels" and electricity generation would be sensible.
Professor Lewis Lesley
Liverpool
No comments:
Post a Comment