UK Nuclear Energy policy
The UK government has announced it's intention to allow EDF, the French energy company, to build at least eight nuclear reactors in the UK.
This is how the UK government plans to provide us with electrical energy, although the first stations will not be online until at least 2017.
There are political considerations in allowing a foreign government, in this case France, to run such an important strategic asset on behalf of the UK. British Energy, the company that currently runs the nuclear generating stations, will be sold to EDF. The UK runs the risk of losing control of such an essential industry to a foreign government.
- There are two major aims with this project. The first is the supply of electricity to homes and businesses.
- The second is the clean up of the mess from fifty years of nuclear weapons and energy production from nuclear sources. These plants are coming to the end of their operating lives and will need to be decommissioned.
This next generation of nuclear generators likely be built on existing sites owned by British Energy, such as:
- Dungeness in Kent
- Sizewell in Suffolk
- Bradwell in Essex
- Hinkley Point in Somerset