Re: Britain can expect long-term power cuts in five years, warns new report
- From: Tony Polson <docnews2011@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:33:17 +0100
"Recliner" <nigelp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"826" <jonporter1052@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:d411120e-e260-4632-a3ba-dbce4aedfc37@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On 26 Sep, 15:25, Tony Polson <docnews2...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
from the Institution of Civil Engineers:
Britain can expect long-term power cuts in five years, warns new
report
22 Sep 2008
Britain will face long-term power cuts in five years time unless
urgent measures are taken now to replace ageing infrastructure, says
a new report.
The report ? A Pragmatic Energy Policy for the UK ? was compiled by
Fells Associates, a network of energy and regulatory specialists, who
argue that the current energy policy is not fit for purpose and that
failure to close the energy gap would impact negatively on the
economy.
Co-author of the report, Professor Ian Fells, said that unrealistic
'green' aspirations about the potential of offshore wind energy has
led to significant under investment in vital energy infrastructure,
such as nuclear power.
The report also sketches out a ?route map to energy survival? to show
how the gap in the UK?s energy generation capacity can be bridged.
Link to report: (warning: links to .pdf
document)http://tinyurl.com/5auksk
Good job those nice French people are building those four nuclear
power stations then. Which they agree in the report is entirely
sensible.
We'll need more than four.
The number we need (alas) probably runs nearer 20 than 4.
Luckily, the kindly Germans seem likely to
build us at least a couple more.
The Germans are looking for work outside Germany; in their own
country, all the nuclear stations will be closed by 2022 and no more
will ever be built.
It's galling for someone like me who
did an MSc in nuclear reactor engineering at a top British University
that we can't build our own any more.
I have no doubt that there were some very good people working on high
level reactor design but the problem was in constructing the M&E
elements of the power stations to the very high standards needed.
I must admit I breathed a sigh of relief when EDF bought British
Energy. Having seen the results of gross incompetence in the British
nuclear industry through having worked on several nuclear projects
(and having visited every nuclear power station but one in the course
of my work) I was very strongly opposed to any more nuclear stations
being built in Britain on safety grounds, and refused to work in the
nuclear industry again. It meant leaving the company I worked for and
having to sacrifice some of the career progress that I had made.
The French have shown far greater competence and their safety record,
whilst not perfect, is excellent by world standards. If EDF can bring
their culture of professionalism to bear on their UK workforce, it
will be a very good thing for all concerned.
I still have major concerns about costs; even the most modern nuclear
station - Sizewell B - was a very substantial loss maker. But I
accept that wind power on a large scale is a dead loss and tidal power
will probably never be viable, so the only practical way left open to
us to generate low-CO2 electricity is nuclear.
.
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