AT A GLANCE:

 

1. Nuclear Power cannot come on stream quickly enough to help with energy security or affect CO2 levels.
2. Hinkley C power station - a cautionary tale.
3. It is a myth that nuclear power is required to keep the lights on when renewables are dormant. Read the facts here.

IN DETAIL:

 

NEW NUCLEAR POWER PROJECTS WILL NOT BEGIN TO PRODUCE ELECTRICITY FOR DECADES, EVEN IF STARTED NOW.

 

How long do you want to wait for your energy source? On 7th April 2022 Boris Johnson announced his new energy strategy in response to the urgent need for new energy sources due to the war in the Ukraine. But the stark truth is that nuclear power will NOT be able to meet our immediate needs. 

 

Research shows slight variations in the time line from initial plans to finally producing electricity for the grid, but everyone is agreed that wind turbines are a fast option. Nuclear is very slow.

 

 The CEO of Octopus energy (an energy firm that only uses renewable energy) said on radio 4’s Today programme, on 6th April 2022, “An on-shore wind farm can be built and running in a year. An off shore wind farm can be built in 2 years.

 

Renewables First say “The wind turbine project timeline depends on the scale of the project, the site complexity and environmental sensitivity. For a typical single 500 kW wind turbine project it would be reasonable to assume a project duration of two years" A nuclear power plant will take from 14 to 18 years from planning to being on line. 

 

HINKLEY C NUCLEAR POWER PLANT applied for permission in 2008, was granted a licence in 2012 with an estimated completion time date of 2025. The expected date for completion now is 2031. 23 years from start to production! The cost in that time has risen from £18 billion to £47 billion. Inexplicably, EDF, the French state owned company that is building it, has been chosen to build a similar one on the Suffolk coast at Sizewell. What could possibly go wrong!

 

Marc Jacobson, Stanford University's Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Director, Atmosphere/Energy Program says “ the average time to build a nuclear power station is around 14.5 years, from the planning phase all the way to operation. Utility-scale wind and solar farms, on the other hand, take on average only 2 to 5 years, from the planning phase to operation. Rooftop solar PV projects are down to only a 6-month timeline.

 

BUT DON'T WE NEED NUCLEAR POWER TO KEEP THE LIGHTS ON WHEN THE SUN ISN'T SHINING AND THE WIND ISN'T BLOWING?

 

"Usually the line goes that on windless and sunny days nuclear power is needed to balance wind and solar." writes David Toke. "But the truth is that adding Sizewell C will not help solve the problem - not even bankrupting the country with several more nuclear power stations will help solve this problem. Instead, we need a system where a) renewables generate the energy, b) batteries help smooth the system and where c) gas turbines or engines provide capacity rather than generate much energy." See the full article here