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Nuclear power: who will you side with?

Centrica and E.ON are currently lobbying the Liberal Democrat energy secretary to commit government to £30bn nuclear newbuild programme.

Chris Huhne is sceptical of the move. The Lib Dems have been known to be strong opponents of nuclear power, unlike their coalition partners who remain committed to plans to introduce up to 10 new nuclear power stations.

So where do you stand on nuclear power?

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Permalink Reply by Diana Korchien on May 21, 2010 at 19:07

If Huhne and Clegg stand firm, this will precipitate the 1st big crack in the smiling public face of the coalition, and present a great opportunity for the Green Party to comment on this publicly and increase its standing in anticipation of the next general election. If Huhne and Clegg cave in to nuclear pressure, this will cause many disappointed Libdem supporters to switch to the Green Party. The defections have already been happening but the pace will increase. Either way, the Green Party will gain support.

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Permalink Reply by Gareth Kane on May 24, 2010 at 16:12

As someone on the yellow side of the yellow/blue coalition, I understand the line on nuclear is "no public subsidy". As no nuclear power stations have ever been built (AFAIK) without such a subsidy, that's one policy dispute kicked into the very long grass.

Don't forget that, despite now having an MP, the Green Party lost support on 6 May. Given the aggressive green agenda set out by the coalition, I think they will be able to defend their record in this respect. The new PM has declared the coalition will be the greenest Government in history. Of course it will be judged on results, but don't underestimate Chris Huhne - he's extremely capable and committed.

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Permalink Reply by Doug Harris on May 26, 2010 at 9:52

When there's 50,000 times the heat energy in just the upper surface of the earth's crust than in all the fossil fuels put together and when there is enough energy delivered in one minute by the sun to provide all of mankind's annual electrical needs .... why would anyone in their right mind choose a mutant energy source with huge dangers and waste problems?

Any rational man would not look the gift horse in the mouth ...

Doug Harris