Our disappearing nuclear capability
In his Annual Energy Review for Parliament last week, Chris Huhne announced,
through gritted teeth, that he is still hoping to see a new fleet of nuclear
power stations to plug Britain’s fast-looming energy gap, as older power
stations are closed down by age or EU anti-pollution laws. His review
coincided with a devastating report from the Lords Science and Technology
Committee on Nuclear Research and Development, dismally depicting how
Britain, which led the world in this field 50 years ago, has allowed its
pool of expertise to run down so far that we no longer have the know-how
even to run a new generation of nuclear plants.