Doonreay to be ‘nuclear heritage site’ as cost of Westminster rush for new nuclear is tallied
published this on 4:29 pm, Thursday, 12th November, 2009Business| Community News| Politics| Renewable Energy | Comments (rss) | Respond | Ping |
Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) is overseeing the decommissioning of the former nuclear power station on Scotland’s northern shores on the Pentland Firth in Caithness.
It has announced that, in 2010, it will hold a 3-month consultation on what should be left as its legacy. Try to keep a straight face.
The short answer is that Doonreay has already left a sufficient legacy. It’s at the bottom of the rock cleft down which they literally dumped radioactive waste; and it’s on the shores and in the waters of the area where radioactive particles have been regularly found over the years.
At the same time, the Westminster Government has announced its go-ahead for 10 new nuclear power stations to be built in England and Wales, at an overall cost of around £50 billion. Scotland, with devolved energy powers, has set its face against new nuclear generation.
Nuclear industry analysts are now warning that the financial risks of such construction projects are so huge that winning contracts could see the death of the companies concerned.
A report from UK Citigroup cites:
- the danger of cost overruns on construction
- reductions in energy prices
- the financial impact of ‘operational mishaps’
The report concludes that there is ‘little if any prospect’ of seeing new plants built in the UK unless the Government stands much of the associated risk.
It would be naive to imagine that the Government will not take this route. It has committed itself late to nuclear for the lack of any timely alternative policy and it has face to save.
The ironic consequence will be that, through taxation, Scots – who do not support new nuclear power installations – will end up being compelled to pay for them to be built across the border.
Scotland itself has behaved with environmental responsibility and forethought in setting in motion research, trials and action in gearing up to power the country from the renewable resources at its disposal.
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November 13th, 2009 at 12:54 am
Spanish wind farms with a theoretical maximum capacity of almost 18GW generated 11.5GW in the last twelve months, providing about 53% of Spain’s total electricity needs. The output was a new record in a country that has the world’s third largest array of wind turbines.
The total output of the wind farms was equivalent to that of 11 nuclear power plants, one more than Mr Brown is proposing for England & Wales. The massive output also meant that the Spanish grid had more electricity than what it requires, and all that excess energy was used by hydroelectric plants similar to our own Cruachan Power Station to pump water back into their dams for future electricity generation when the wind was not blowing.
According to the Guardian, the UK is currently third from bottom in a European renewable energy league table. Despite Scotland being the windiest country in Europe, the UK generates just under 2% of its energy from renewable energy such as wind energy and solar. This is less than most countries in Europe – with the exception of Luxembourg and Malta. We clearly have no shame as a country or we would not tolerate this terrible inaction of our energy ministers and government.
We don’t need new thinking here; simply copy the Spanish, they have proven it works beyond any doubt. Scotland could be a net exporter of green electricity in no time. This would also provide quality local employment and the much needed investment cash for infrastructure improvements for the highlands and islands. Unfortunately Ed Miliband MP and Jim Mather MSP are bottom of the league players compared to their European energy counterparts. If they can’t get the planning process sorted out, then Scotland and the UK will continue to trail Europe and more nuclear stations will have to be built in Scotland as well as England and Wales. This is not rocket science, it is propeller science!