Going nuclear

10 January 2008 By George Hay Follow @gfhay

The UK government has given the global nuclear industry the confidence to invest in newbuild stations. It s a good thing too. With 30 new nuclear power stations being built around the world, it needs to win over the big nuclear companies, as well as its own populace.

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On Thursday, the UK government invited energy companies to bring forward plans to build and operate new nuclear power stations. John Hutton, the energy secretary, said that the argument for new nuclear stations was compelling, given its low carbon output and the fact that a third of current UK generating capacity will come offline in the next 20 years.

He also confirmed that energy companies would fund, develop and build new nuclear power stations in the UK, including meeting the full costs of decommissioning and their full share of waste management costs. The £70bn cost of decommissioning the UK's current fleet of nuclear power stations will stay within the public sector.

Hutton said that the number of new plants would depend entirely on the market, and did not give a maximum or minimum number.

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