This is a wonderful contradiction:
Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat energy and climate secretary, today urged his party to back new nuclear power stations as part of the “give and take” of being in government with the Conservatives… “And George Osborne expects me to deliver our agreement on nuclear power, which is that there is an important place for new nuclear stations in our energy mix as long as there is no public subsidy. A deal is a deal, and I will deliver.”
Which essentially means nuclear power stations are unlikely to be constructed. Not one nuclear power station in the world operates without public money. The break even point is estimated to be around £1.6bn, and that’s if you can find an insurance company to dare touch the scheme. The risks are too great. (You only have to Google incidents at Sellafield to see that we’re just stopping short of finding a Tesco’s carrier bag full of uranium rods outside a pub.) The government currently picks up the bill for nuclear power insurance in the UK, and it’s no surprise.
As I’ve mentioned previously, the contradictory message being presented is no bad thing, especially given the other options.
