Tag Archives: nuclear power

Ed Davey MP writes: Hinkley Point – we need to have all low carbon options in play

By Edward Davey MP | Wed 20th March 2013 - 2:00 pm

Climate change is one of the greatest threats facing our planet – if we don’t tackle it we will continue to see extinction of species on an industrial scale, parts of our world will become uninhabitable for humans, and we will see increasing conflict between nations over scarce resources and the mass migration of impoverished peoples. We need to step up to this environmental challenge and use all of our ingenuity and resourcefulness to meet it head-on.

As the Secretary of State I’m determined …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged featured and hinckley point | 30 Comments

Eric Avebury writes…Managing our nuclear legacy: the £67.5 billion question for Ed Davey

By Eric Avebury | Mon 11th March 2013 - 11:58 am

The most important task facing Ed Davey for the long term is not how to manage the Energy Bill, but deciding how to deal with the 112 tonnes of plutonium accumulated at Sellafield and Dounreay from past civil nuclear operations, still growing at 4-6 tonnes a year.

The cost of maintaining this hazardous material in maximum security conditions to the year 2050 is estimated at £67.5 billion. But storage in a geological disposal facility is not on the cards, with Cumbria County Council’s decision to reject the idea in January, and no other candidates on the horizon. The best hope is …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged ed cavey | 7 Comments

Edward Davey: New nuclear plants will have no taxpayer subsidy

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 30th October 2012 - 6:55 pm

Liberal Democrat Energy and Climate Change Secretary Edward Davey has been talking to ITN’s Laura Kuenssberg after £700 million private companies following the announcement that Hitachi were investing £700 million in new nuclear plants. He said:

It’s a real vote of confidence from a major international company…. This is good news for the public because it’s part of our energy security strategy to keep the lights on

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Posted in News | Also tagged edward davey, energy security bill and hitachi | 23 Comments

Trident: it’s déjà vu all over again

By Stephen Tall | Tue 30th October 2012 - 12:45 pm

The latest flurry of excitement about the Trident nuclear deterrent — as the Daily Mail puts it with typical tabloid restraint: Tories and LibDems at war over contract to build Trident sub: £350m deal is jumping the gun, warns Clegg — is one of those stories which pops up twice a year. The last time was six months ago, in May, when the Ministry of Defence announced £350m-worth of design contracts for the Trident successor submarines had been signed. As then Lib Dem defence minister Nick Harvey pointed out on LDV at the time:

is being portrayed as the Coalition Government moving a step closer to a

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Posted in News | Also tagged defence, featured, ministry of defence, nick harvey and trident | 21 Comments

Chris Davies MEP writes: A view from the North (2/3)

By Chris Davies MEP | Tue 14th August 2012 - 10:45 am

You can read the first instalment of Chris Davies’s View from the North here.

It will some as no surprise to members in the North West that I asked them some questions on issues relating to the environment and reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

I have led on environmental issues for the pan-European Liberal group in the Parliament since 1999, but since being re-elected in 2009 I have made sustainable reform of the CFP my biggest policy priority.

I asked whether members agreed with the majority of the world’s scientists that the climate is changing. 88% agreed and only …

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Posted in News | Also tagged climate change, common fisheries policy, environment, european union, fracking, shale gas and wind power | 12 Comments

Ed Davey MP writes … There will be no public subsidy for nuclear

By Edward Davey MP | Fri 20th April 2012 - 8:47 am

Liberal Democrats were at pains in the negotiations for the coalition to insist that if nuclear power stations were to be built in the UK that there should be no public subsidy. This position was reiterated by Chris Huhne in a statement to the House of Commons on October 18^th 2010 as reported in his article on Lib Dem Voice. So I would like to allay Fiona Hall concerns expressed on Lib Dem Voice yesterday by clarifying that there has been absolutely no change in this position.

As Chris Huhne outlined in October 2010 this means that “there will …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged chris huhne, coalition agreement, department for energy and climate change, ed davey and fiona hall | 22 Comments

Fiona Hall MEP writes: Subsidies for nuclear energy go against Coalition agreement AND economic common sense

By Fiona Hall MEP | Wed 18th April 2012 - 4:51 pm

With the Government due to announce new measures to encourage investment in low carbon power generation as part of its Electricity Market Reform (EMR), it is time for Liberal Democrats to speak out against public subsidies for nuclear energy. Why? Because among the Government’s proposals is the so-called Feed-in Tariff with Contract for Difference (FiT CfD) which will offer a price guarantee and revenue certainty for investors in low-carbon electricity generation – including nuclear. Such a public subsidy to help build new nuclear power stations in the UK would go completely against the Coalition Government Agreement and prolong “the most expensive failure of post-war British policy-making” as

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged coalition agreement and electricity market | 17 Comments

LibLink: Ed Davey – Out of the Shadows

By Stephen Tall | Sun 18th March 2012 - 12:20 pm

The Lib Dems’ newest cabinet minister Edward Davey, secretary of state for energy and climate change, is the subject of an extensive profile in the latest issue of The House magazine, re-printed on PoliticsHome.

And it sounds like he couldn’t be much happier: “This is the thing I wanted to do – it’s my dream job. Environment, and the whole climate-change agenda, is one of the reasons I joined the Liberal Democrats. It’s something that really motivates me in politics and it’s a great privilege to be here. … I’m not going to be giving in on Liberal Democrat …

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Posted in News | Also tagged edward davey and renewable energy | 1 Comment

Huhne pledges to do ‘the right thing’ as he commits to nuclear power

By Stephen Tall | Sat 15th October 2011 - 1:30 pm

This week saw Lib Dem energy and climate change secretary Chris Huhne make a major speech to the Royal Society on the future of nuclear power, with the Coalition committed to a series of new reactors adjacent to existing sites.

The Coalition’s policy has long been trailed — a year ago, Chris put forward his views here on LibDemVoice.org, ‘Myth-busting: what the Coalition’s plans for nuclear energy really mean’. Here Chris acknowledged his shift from opposition to nuclear power to support conditional on no public subsidy — a shift which has majority support from Lib Dem members, at …

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Posted in News | Also tagged chris huhne and energy | 15 Comments

The Independent View: Nuclear subsidies – no thanks!

By Martyn Williams | Thu 7th July 2011 - 1:54 pm

On Tuesday night in the House of Commons, the nuclear industry moved a significant step closer to getting their hands on an extra £1.3 billion of public money, courtesy of a coalition Government that promised no subsidy for nuclear power.

A Labour attempt to claw the money back through a windfall tax failed. And although this was supported by environmentally-minded Conservative MP, Zac Goldsmith, not a single Liberal Democrat MP gave their backing.

Admittedly there were notable abstentions. Sixteen Liberal Democrat MPs did not troop through the Government lobby to block the Labour proposal – including, intriguingly, Danny Alexander.

The issue …

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Posted in The Independent View | Also tagged carbon floor price, Danny Alexander, friends of the earth and zac goldsmith | 23 Comments

Lib Dem MPs set to rebel over ‘back-door’ nuclear power subsidy

By Stephen Tall | Sat 2nd July 2011 - 4:15 pm

‘Liberal Democrats have long opposed any new nuclear construction. Conservatives, by contrast, are committed to allowing the replacement of existing nuclear power stations provided that they are subject to the normal planning process for major projects (under a new National Planning Statement), and also provided that they receive no public subsidy.’

So declares the Coalition Agreement. However, as the Guardian reports, the finance bill due to be debated this coming week introduces a form of subsidy, and it’s attracted opposition among the party:

A large group of Lib Dems are concerned about clause 78 of the bill, which MPs will consider

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged chris huhne, Danny Alexander, david boyle, energy, gareth epps, john leech, louise bloom and tim farron | 26 Comments

John Leech MP writes: New £1bn nuclear windfall must be taxed

By John Leech MP | Fri 1st July 2011 - 2:25 pm

On Monday, MPs will be asked to vote through £1 billion in windfall profits to existing nuclear operators for doing absolutely nothing new. We fought the last general election on the promise of opposing new nuclear power and certainly reject public subsidies for nuclear power.

Whatever your take on nuclear power though, surely it’s unjustifiable and politically untenable to hand out £1 billion to EDF and Centrica directly from consumer purses, when people are already feeling the squeeze.

The windfall will do nothing to ensure new electricity generation, nothing to help us meet our renewable energy targets and nothing to build popular …

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Posted in Op-eds | 8 Comments

Lib Dem members survey: majority back nuclear power as part of UK’s energy mix

By Stephen Tall | Wed 27th April 2011 - 12:55 pm

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Over 530 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results this week.

Almost 60% of Lib Dem members back nuclear power

LDV asked: Do you believe that nuclear power, alongside oil and gas and renewable sources, should be part of the UK’s energy mix?

…

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Posted in LDV Members poll | 5 Comments

Chris Huhne writes… Myth-busting: what the Coalition’s plans for nuclear energy really mean

By Chris Huhne MP | Fri 29th October 2010 - 6:08 pm

Which of these headlines is right?

‘Lib Dem U-turn on nuclear energy sees Huhne announce eight new power stations‘ (Independent)

‘Taxpayer to underwrite expansion of nuclear power’ (The Times)

‘Subsidy for eight nuclear reactors rejected‘ (Financial Times)

All appeared in the papers on Tuesday 19 October, the day after I announced the latest steps in the government’s approach to nuclear energy. They’re a good example of how confused journalists can get – only the FT’s got it right. So let me make it plain: there has been no change whatsoever in the coalition’s policy of allowing new nuclear stations to go ahead as long as they can be built without public subsidy.

What we’ve done is to publish four key sets of documents:

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Posted in Op-eds | 25 Comments

LDV survey: 68% of Lib Dem members back nuclear as party of UK’s energy mix

By Stephen Tall | Sat 28th August 2010 - 8:45 am

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of a variety of key issues, and what you make of the Lib Dems’ and Government’s performance to date. Almost 600 party members have responded, and we’ll be publishing the full results of our survey in the next few days.

First up we asked about Chris Huhne’s announcement that he is now backing nuclear power in order to ensure the stability of Britain’s energy supplies.

Do you believe Chris Huhne is right to say that nuclear power, alongside oil and gas and renewable sources, …

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged chris huhne and energy | 16 Comments

Monday will be the day of high drama (or anti-climax) at party conference

By Mark Pack | Mon 16th August 2010 - 10:20 am

Monday, 20th September: nuclear power, free schools and Nick Clegg’s conference speech. Drama, protest and dissension or quiet compromise, careful management and enthusiastic standing ovation?

It’s no coincidence that both potential controversies are scheduled for the same day as Clegg’s speech: in the worst case situation, all the bad news would be be concentrated on the one day and Clegg will still get the final word (or rather, many words) on the day with his speech coming after the possible flashpoints*.

However, it’s unlikely to come to that as the two motions are carefully worded. Nuclear power gets a mention in the …

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Posted in Conference | Also tagged academies and nick clegg | 4 Comments

NEW POLL: Should nuclear power be part of the UK’s energy mix?

By Stephen Tall | Mon 9th August 2010 - 2:25 pm

Climate change and energy secretary Chris Huhne was on Radio 4 this morning with what will have been, for many Lib Dems, a surprise announcement: that the Lib Dem / Conservative coalition government is fully behind the opening of a new nuclear power station in eight years’ time.

Arguing in favour of in favour of a mix of more nuclear, oil and gas and renewable energy, Chris declared, “I have no intention of the lights going out on my watch.”

This is something of a change in direction for Liberal Democrat party policy. For example, in the 2010 manifesto the …

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Posted in News and Voice polls | Also tagged chris huhne and energy | 70 Comments

“Private sector will build nuclear plants,” says Huhne

By The Voice | Mon 2nd August 2010 - 10:30 am

The BBC reports:

New nuclear plants will be built in the UK as part of the move towards a green economy, Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has said.

Mr Huhne told the BBC that breaking the dependence on traditional fossil fuels was vital. The minister said the market would decide which types of low-carbon energy would be used, but he believes nuclear investors are waiting to come forward.

He ruled out specific government subsidies for the new power stations.

Chris was speaking on the BBC1′s Andrew Marr programme, Sunday AM, and confirmed:

My position and my party’s position was always one

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged chris huhne, energy and Mark Pack | 19 Comments

Horwood: coalition deal on nuclear power creates possible “win-win situation” for Lib Dems

By Stephen Tall | Fri 11th June 2010 - 9:55 am

Part of the coalition deal between the Lib Dems and Conservatives allowed for Nick Clegg and colleagues to abstain on three key issues which divide the parties – raising student tuition fees, the Tories’ marriage tax allowance, and nuclear power.

However, written into the agreement, too, was the pledge that no new nuclear power station will receive a public subsidy – which, as Mark Pack has previously noted, means that if the figures don’t stack up, they won’t happen.

It’s a point Cheltenham Lib Dem MP Martin Horwood re-inforces today in an article on politics.co.uk, Lib Dem hopes for ‘win-win’ …

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Posted in News | Also tagged martin horwood and zac goldsmith | 4 Comments

The coalition agreement: energy and climate change

By Mark Pack | Thu 27th May 2010 - 12:45 pm

Welcome to the seventh in a series of posts going through the full coalition agreement section by section. You can read the full coalition document here.

The ultra-quick summary of this section: a long list of Liberal Democrat policies – and then a bit about nuclear.

The longer version is that however questionable the Conservative Party’s commitment to green issues looked at times before polling day (particularly when Conservative Party conference was expressing its opposition to green taxes), out of the negotiations has come a firm commitment from the Conservatives to back a long, long list of green measures. Many of …

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Posted in News | Also tagged chris huhne and coalition agreement | 8 Comments

LibLink: Simon Hughes – The Lib Dems can keep the lights on

By NewsHound | Wed 7th April 2010 - 8:35 pm

Over at the New Statesman, Simon Hughes, the Lib Dems’ shadow secretary of state for energy and climate change, mounts a passionate defence of the party’s call for an independent inquiry into nuclear power – a call which led pro-nuclear environmental campaigner Mark Lynas to far-fetchedly claim the lights could go out in the event of a hung parliament.

First, Simon points out the need for an independent inquiry into the “justification” for nuclear power:

“Justification” is the process of assessment of the health effects of nuclear power and is a legal requirement before any new nuclear plant can operate in

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged mark lynas, new statesman and simon hughes | 2 Comments

What does Zac make of the Tories’ latest nuclear policy?

By Stephen Tall | Sun 28th March 2010 - 4:25 pm

Just four months ago, the Tories’ non-dom candidate for Richmond Park, Zac Goldsmith, promised that his party would “ring in era of integrity” – and insisted no new nuclear power stations would be built under a Tory government.

Zac told The Guardian last December:

… that if the party sticks to its existing policy, it would never allow the building of a new nuclear power station. He said Tory policy “was to give a green light to nuclear power as long as there is no call on the taxpayer, not just in terms of building, but maintenance, security and disposal of

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged greg clark, richmond park and zac goldsmith | 7 Comments

LibLink: Simon Hughes: “Like the banks, new nuclear is too big to fail”

By NewsHound | Mon 22nd March 2010 - 5:25 pm

At Comment is Free today, Simon Hughes (Liberal Democrat shadow secretary of state for energy and climate change) challenges the Tories over their “incoherent” new energy policy and calls for greater investment in renewable energy:

Nuclear power has always required huge amounts of public money and David Cameron’s signal that the Tories are ready to turn on the taps of taxpayer support risks billions which we simply can’t afford. Both Labour and the Tories claim that they will not provide any public subsidy, but both know that this cannot be true when the nuclear industry that has never been

…

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged energy and simon hughes | 5 Comments

Daily View 2×2: 25 October 2009

By Mark Pack | Sun 25th October 2009 - 7:00 am

Morning all. Clocks changed? Good. Now it’s time to catch up on the news including, as it’s a Sunday, another in my occasional series of “Forget Obama; forget West Wing – now THIS is what we should be copying from US politics”.

It’s the political ad that is just bursting to be copied for our next party political broadcast. Send you lobbying email to Cowley Street now. (Probably best do that now rather than after watching the ad. In case you don’t agree with me. But you’d be mad not to. This is quality political advertising at its very best.)

2 Big Stories

Pakistani army takes Taliban chief’s hometown

Pakistani soldiers captured the hometown of the country’s Taliban chief Saturday, a strategic and symbolic initial prize as the army pushes deeper into a militant stronghold along the Afghan border. An army spokesman said the Taliban were in disarray, with many deserting the ranks.

The 8-day-old air and ground offensive in the South Waziristan tribal region is a key test of nuclear-armed Pakistan’s campaign against Islamist militancy. It has already spurred a civilian exodus and deadly retaliatory attacks.

Washington has encouraged the operation in the northwest because many militants there are believed to shelter al-Qaida leaders and are also suspected to be involved in attacks on Western troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. military has also kept up its own missile strikes in the lawless tribal belt, including a suspected one that killed 22 Saturday. (Associated Press)

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Posted in Daily View | Also tagged pakistan, royal mail and taliban | 3 Comments

Successful wind farm to be nuked?

By Helen Duffett | Tue 28th April 2009 - 2:13 pm

A successful wind farm close to the Lake District national park is one of the sites recently approved by the Government for a new generation of nuclear power plants.
From the Guardian:

One of the oldest and most efficient wind farms in Britain is to be dismantled and replaced by a nuclear power station under plans drawn up by the German-owned power group RWE.

The site at Kirksanton in Cumbria – home to the Haverigg turbines – has just been approved by the government for potential atomic newbuild in a move that has infuriated the wind power industry.

Colin Palmer, founder of the Windcluster company, which owns part of the Haverigg wind farm, said he was horrified that such a plan could be considered at a time when Britain risks missing its green energy targets and after reassurance from ministers that nuclear and renewables were not incompatible.

In a masterful understatement which belies the local anger and bewilderment at the lack of early consultation, Matthew Clayton of Triodos Renewables, the company which owns three turbines on the site said:

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Posted in News | Also tagged simon hughes | 15 Comments

NEW POLL: what’s your view on nuclear power?

By Stephen Tall | Thu 16th April 2009 - 6:59 pm

Yesterday the Government released a list of 11 sites in England and Wales where new nuclear power stations could be built, with the aim of having the first reactors operational within a decade.

The Lib Dems’ shadow energy and climate change secretary Simon Hughes was unequivocal in stating his anti-nuclear position on behalf of the party, branding this new generation of nuclear power stations a “colossal mistake”:

They are hugely expensive, dangerous and will take too long to build. There is a real danger that the Government is becoming too close to and the big energy companies.

…

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Posted in Voice polls | Also tagged chris davies, david howarth, energy, john thurso and simon hughes | 27 Comments