A formal complaint has been made to the European Commission that nuclear power in the UK is receiving subsidies, and that those subsidies are unlawful ‘state aid’ under laws governing competition in the EU.
“One of the biggest subsidies for nuclear power in the UK is that it is required to pay much less than the full cost of insuring against a Chernobyl-style disaster or worse” said Dr Gerry Wolff, a member of the Energy Fair group that has made the complaint. “The nuclear industry is also paying much less than the full cost of disposing of nuclear waste and for the decommissioning of nuclear plants.”
“Without the subsidies that it is receiving, nuclear power would be hopelessly uncompetitive. But it is a mature technology that should be commercially viable without support. Those subsidies are distorting the market and working against the development of the clean, green sources of power that are now urgently needed. There are now many reports from reputable sources showing that there are more than enough renewable sources of power to meet our needs, now and for the foreseeable future.”
NOTES
1 The three documents in the complaint are:
- State aid complaint form (PDF).
- Grounds for complaint (PDF).
- The Nuclear Subsidies report (PDF).
2 This complaint relates to the situation in the UK as it is now. Recently, the UK government has made proposals for reform of the electricity market which, if they are accepted, will change the situation in the future. We will be studying these proposals and if, as we suspect, they mean new subsidies for nuclear power and fail to remove existing subsidies, it is likely that the new proposals will be the subject of another complaint to the EC in the future.
3 There are more than enough renewable sources of power to meet our needs, now and in the foreseeable future: www.energyfair.org.uk/pren .
4 The several problems with nuclear power are described on: www.mng.org.uk/gh/nn.htm .
5 The website of the Energy Fair group is at: www.energyfair.org.uk/ .
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