EU parliament deputies split over UK nuclear plans  

Reaction from MEPs to the news that the UK will replace its ageing fleet of new nuclear power stations has been mixed.

British conservative group leader Giles Chichester welcomed the decision - announced by UK enterprise secretary John Hutton on Thursday - saying that it was long overdue.

“Nuclear energy is an essential part of the energy mix of UK and Europe. It provides security of supply, ultra low carbon emissions and price reliability over the 40 to 60-year working life of a reactor… I personally believe the UK should aim for the EU average, not just maintain existing capacity,” Chichester said.

Fellow Tory deputy Robert Sturdy's office told theparliament.com that the MEP for the east of England would back the plans provided that conditions ensuring the safe disposal of nuclear waste were established.

However the announcement was also roundly condemned by other deputies.

Welsh MEP Jill Evans told this website that nuclear power was “unsafe, unsustainable, uneconomical and unnecessary.”

“Even if Britain builds 10 new nuclear power stations it has been estimated that they could only deliver a four per cent cut in carbon emissions after 2025. Gordon Brown's government lacks the vision to develop a truly sustainable energy policy for the long term,” Evans added.

Following the announcement UK prime minister Gordon Brown said that the decision was a response to rising oil prices and the challenges of climate change.

Meanwhile power companies from the UK and across Europe revealed that they were ready to start building the new power plants, with French energy utility EDF, reactor-maker Areva and the German utility Eon all expressing an interest.

Green group MEP Caroline Lucas condemned what she called New Labour's "love affair with nuclear" as "a dangerous, irresponsible and costly distraction from the real challenge of tackling climate change".

"Gordon Brown is guilty of the most staggering failure of political vision,” she said.

 "It simply isn't true that nuclear power is the answer to the so-called energy gap we face over the next 10 years, since the earliest that a new nuclear power station could come on stream is around 2017.”

“And even if Britain built 10 new reactors, it's been estimated that nuclear power can only deliver a four per cent cut in carbon emissions some time after 2025.”

“The UK has a real opportunity to lead the way in the development of alternative sources of renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, yet the Government prefers to hold on to its ambition of introducing more dirty, dangerous and expensive nuclear power instead.”

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