Ireland must not buy nuclear electricity from Britain

Government can't oppose Sellafield and then buy its power

As Tony Blair's government announces plans for a new generation of nuclear power stations Friends of the Earth Ireland has called on the government here to pledge that it will not buy nuclear-generated electricity from Britain.

"It would be hypocritical in the extreme for the governemnt to campaign to close Sellafield on the one hand and then turn around and let the ESB buy electricity from a new nuclear station there", said Friends of the Earth Director, Oisin Coghlan.

Noel Dempsey's forthcoming Green Paper on Energy must lay out a plan to ensure Ireland does not rely on British nuclear-generated electricity in the future. To achieve this the government must prioritise local 'distributed generation' using renewable energy. Currently two thirds of electric energy is wasted in transmission from centralised power stations to users. Secondly, the interconnector which will be built between Britain and Ireland should only be used for renewable energy. When we have excess wind energy in Ireland we can export it to Britain. When we need extra electricty we should only buy from renewable sources in Britain, otherwise Irish consumers will be paying to build and run a new nuclear power plant in Sellafield.

"Irish householders would be happy to buy electricity from wind energy in Scotland, they certainly don't want to buy if from Sellafield or any other nuclear plant in Britain", Mr Coghlan added.

The UK energy review to be published today is going to support a new generation of nuclear power stations to be built beside existing nuclear facilities, making Sellafield a prime location. Friends of the Earth also takes issue with Tony Blair's plans to classify nuclear power as a "low carbon" energy which will qualify for price supports in the way renewable energy does. When you look at the full life-cycle of nuclear energy, from uranium extraction through the amount of cement used in building the plants to the decommissioning and waste storage for generations nuclear energy is just as polluting in terms of carbon emissions as gas-fired power. The UK government's own sustainable development commission has said that nuclear is not the answer to Britain's energy needs or to the fight against climate change.

"Rather than saying 'nuclear power is back on the table with avengeance' as he recently did it would be much more powerful and useful if Mr Blair stood up and said the government was going to insulate every attic, put solar panels on every roof and a renewable power plant in every village, but no doubt he would not get the same leadership buzz from such sensible policies", Mr Coghlan concluded.

 

Click here for Friends of the Earth's submission to the UK Energy Review
Click here for the UK Sustainable Development Commission's briefing Is Nuclear the Answer