Lord Bracknell
On fire
Thursday May 24, 2007
The Guardian
Prime sites for nuclear power stations identified
Study commissioned by government says Brighton, Bristol, Midlands and Oxfordshire should be considered
John Vidal and Terry Macalister
The government is considering building nuclear power stations on the sites of old coal and gas-fired stations in Oxfordshire and the south-east, according to documents released yesterday as part of a consultation forced on it by the courts.
A confidential report, commissioned by the DTI last year from leading energy analysts Jackson Consulting, has recommended a new generation of plants at existing or redundant civil and military nuclear power stations. But it says that many of these will be unavailable for years or will be unsuitable because they have limited connections to the national grid.
Instead, the consultants say that "existing coal and/or gas-fired conventional power stations" should be considered for new nuclear sites. A further option would be to develop stations at "completely new greenfield sites".
Of the 19 existing civil nuclear power station sites, only nine are considered feasible for new reactors, and only four of these are available immediately.
However, the DTI has been advised that the sites of conventional power stations in the Midlands, the south coast near Brighton, and near Bristol could become available. The advice to ministers was outlined in a 50-page report, the only one known to have been commissioned by government specifically on the issue of the siting of new nuclear plants.
It was submitted to the DTI last year and attempts by Greenpeace to make it public under freedom of information rules were repeatedly blocked.
The study was finally disclosed yesterday, when the government published its latest energy white paper.
This offered clear support for new nuclear plants but a fresh round of consultation has been demanded by the high court.
Alistair Darling, the industry secretary, said that this would only take 20 weeks and argued it would be a "profound mistake" to rule out nuclear energy at a time of dwindling North Sea oil and gas supplies and pressure to tackle greenhouse gas emissions.
"Quite simply, in the public interest, we need to make a decision this year on whether we should continue to get some of our electricity from nuclear because new stations take a long time to build. If nuclear is excluded there is every chance that its place would be taken by gas or coal generation which, of course, emit carbon," he said.
According to the Jackson report, ease of connection to the national grid is the main factor in determining a site's suitability.
This suggests that the best available location at present is at Harwell, a former military site close to Didcot power station in Oxfordshire. In the second rung of grid suitability come old coal-fired stations, but these are not mentioned by name.
Only two nuclear sites that are immediately available - at Sizewell and Hinkley - are considered to be suitable to take new generation twin reactors.
Eight of the 19 current nuclear sites considered by Jackson have limited grid connection and three - at Trawsfynydd and Wylfa in north Wales, Berkeley near Gloucester and Heysham in Lancashire are more or less ruled out with "major barriers that would be difficult to overcome".
The report adds that new stations are unlikely to be feasible in Wales or Scotland because of devolution.
While most existing reactors are on the coast, the report says it would be possible to build new ones inland. But these, it says, would need vast cooling towers, "as used by conventional coal and gas- fired generating stations such as Didcot in Oxfordshire".
It says: "Cooling towers are very large structures which substantially damage the local amenity value from visual intrusion, causing significant difficulties with local public acceptance, as well as adding to the cost of construction and reducing the station's power output 3-5%."
The report highlights nuclear waste organisation Nirex's anxiety that the sites most prone to flooding from rising sea levels are in the low-lying areas of the south of England - exactly where electricity demand is forecast to be greatest.
It states that new nuclear power stations would have to be engineered and designed to take this into account. Greenpeace director John Sauven said: "Scientists say the speed at which climate change is happening means that some of the sites suggested for new nuclear power stations are threatened by rising sea levels and storm surges. You have to question where the government thinks it's going to build these things.
"The list of preferred sites for new build in this report is a matter of national interest, not just something for civil servants to see. It's scandalous the government was going to keep this under wraps."
The DTI said last night that the report's conclusions were those of the consultants and it was too early to consider the siting of any potential new stations. A spokesman said private companies would ultimately propose where they should be built.
The Guardian
Prime sites for nuclear power stations identified
Study commissioned by government says Brighton, Bristol, Midlands and Oxfordshire should be considered
John Vidal and Terry Macalister
The government is considering building nuclear power stations on the sites of old coal and gas-fired stations in Oxfordshire and the south-east, according to documents released yesterday as part of a consultation forced on it by the courts.
A confidential report, commissioned by the DTI last year from leading energy analysts Jackson Consulting, has recommended a new generation of plants at existing or redundant civil and military nuclear power stations. But it says that many of these will be unavailable for years or will be unsuitable because they have limited connections to the national grid.
Instead, the consultants say that "existing coal and/or gas-fired conventional power stations" should be considered for new nuclear sites. A further option would be to develop stations at "completely new greenfield sites".
Of the 19 existing civil nuclear power station sites, only nine are considered feasible for new reactors, and only four of these are available immediately.
However, the DTI has been advised that the sites of conventional power stations in the Midlands, the south coast near Brighton, and near Bristol could become available. The advice to ministers was outlined in a 50-page report, the only one known to have been commissioned by government specifically on the issue of the siting of new nuclear plants.
It was submitted to the DTI last year and attempts by Greenpeace to make it public under freedom of information rules were repeatedly blocked.
The study was finally disclosed yesterday, when the government published its latest energy white paper.
This offered clear support for new nuclear plants but a fresh round of consultation has been demanded by the high court.
Alistair Darling, the industry secretary, said that this would only take 20 weeks and argued it would be a "profound mistake" to rule out nuclear energy at a time of dwindling North Sea oil and gas supplies and pressure to tackle greenhouse gas emissions.
"Quite simply, in the public interest, we need to make a decision this year on whether we should continue to get some of our electricity from nuclear because new stations take a long time to build. If nuclear is excluded there is every chance that its place would be taken by gas or coal generation which, of course, emit carbon," he said.
According to the Jackson report, ease of connection to the national grid is the main factor in determining a site's suitability.
This suggests that the best available location at present is at Harwell, a former military site close to Didcot power station in Oxfordshire. In the second rung of grid suitability come old coal-fired stations, but these are not mentioned by name.
Only two nuclear sites that are immediately available - at Sizewell and Hinkley - are considered to be suitable to take new generation twin reactors.
Eight of the 19 current nuclear sites considered by Jackson have limited grid connection and three - at Trawsfynydd and Wylfa in north Wales, Berkeley near Gloucester and Heysham in Lancashire are more or less ruled out with "major barriers that would be difficult to overcome".
The report adds that new stations are unlikely to be feasible in Wales or Scotland because of devolution.
While most existing reactors are on the coast, the report says it would be possible to build new ones inland. But these, it says, would need vast cooling towers, "as used by conventional coal and gas- fired generating stations such as Didcot in Oxfordshire".
It says: "Cooling towers are very large structures which substantially damage the local amenity value from visual intrusion, causing significant difficulties with local public acceptance, as well as adding to the cost of construction and reducing the station's power output 3-5%."
The report highlights nuclear waste organisation Nirex's anxiety that the sites most prone to flooding from rising sea levels are in the low-lying areas of the south of England - exactly where electricity demand is forecast to be greatest.
It states that new nuclear power stations would have to be engineered and designed to take this into account. Greenpeace director John Sauven said: "Scientists say the speed at which climate change is happening means that some of the sites suggested for new nuclear power stations are threatened by rising sea levels and storm surges. You have to question where the government thinks it's going to build these things.
"The list of preferred sites for new build in this report is a matter of national interest, not just something for civil servants to see. It's scandalous the government was going to keep this under wraps."
The DTI said last night that the report's conclusions were those of the consultants and it was too early to consider the siting of any potential new stations. A spokesman said private companies would ultimately propose where they should be built.
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