CND has criticised the government’s announcement of a deal to subsidise the building of a new nuclear power station at the Hinkley site in Somerset. The government will guarantee a ‘strike price’ of £92.50 for every megawatt hour of energy produced from new nuclear plants. If the market price falls below this amount then a surcharge will be added to customers’ bills. This would be the first new nuclear power station to be built in the UK since 1995.
CND General Secretary Kate Hudson commented:
“The 2010 Coalition Agreement explicitly states that there will be ‘no public subsidy’ for new nuclear power and yet the deal announced today commits taxpayers’ money to bailing out an industry which has proven time and time again that it does not offer value for money. The plant operators face no economic risk, as nuclear power is given a special advantage over other forms of electricity, most notably renewables. The agreement today also risks breaching EU law on state aid, with the European Commission set to investigate the deal.
“Instead of subsidising nuclear energy production, the government should be investing more in safe, clean and affordable renewable energy.”