28 June 2011
Energy Minister and leading Lib Dem MP Chris Huhne signalled that Britain will be "open for business", and hopes to attract foreign nuclear investment, despite recent events at Fukushima and elsewhere.
Cllr. James Abbott, Co-ordinator of Essex Green Party said
"The Green Party remains opposed to new nuclear power stations. Bradwell was a predictable choice by the Tory/Lib Dem Government because it has been a nuclear site for decades.
But we need to move away from dirty technologies and towards a new era of clean, green energy and energy conservation. At a time when Governments around the world are agreeing with this policy, including in Germany, the UK is ploughing on regardless with its nuclear plans.
The Essex coast is going to become increasingly vulnerable to sea flooding as climate change forces sea levels to rise. This is due to thermal expansion of the oceans and ice melt. Placing more nuclear reactors on our coastline is clearly a long term risk, and an avoidable one.
With the Lib Dems now in league with the Tories on nuclear and with a pro-nuclear Labour Party, voters have a clear choice at the ballot box if they agree with the Greens. We say that nuclear power should be phased out in favour of clean, green energy that will generate thousands of jobs in this region."
Adrian Ramsay, Green Party Deputy Leader said
"While the Conservatives and Lib Dems often talk about being 'the greenest government ever', the coalition partners show their real priorities with their policies. Reducing carbon emissions must be a top priority, but this fixation on nuclear will divert investment away from the real solution - energy efficiency measures and renewable energy.
With the recent revelation that three of the four affected reactors at Fukushima experienced full meltdown, and plants in America being put on alert or shut down as a result of flooding alongside the Missouri River [1], the risks involved with nuclear power are being illustrated all too clearly. And the public is taking notice; Italian voters have overwhelmingly rejected Silvio Berlusconi's plans to restart the country's nuclear programme [2], and Germany has committed to closing all of its plants by 2022 [3].
There are good reasons why countries across Europe are turning away from nuclear power and yet the British Government is taking us in the opposite direction. Nuclear power creates a toxic legacy of waste and is bad value for money. Investing the same amount in energy efficiency and renewable energy would make much more difference more quickly in reducing carbon emissions, making our energy supply more secure and creating skilled, lasting jobs."
Notes:
1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jun/22/nuclearpower-nuclear-waste
2. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/europe/referendum-results-kill-italys-nuclear-plans-as-berlusconis-future-uncertain/article2059123/
3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13592208
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