Nuclear energy investment power curves up

Dan Yurman has a survey of new nuclear power projects, from UAE to UK to US. All very good news, though rather “small change” in comparison to planned investment in China and India.

(…) Combined with other investments in the U.K., a minimum of 12 GWe in new nuclear reactors is coming off the drawing boards in the next two decades.

In another post Dan reports on the turnaround in UK energy policy:

The award for decisiveness in energy policy this month goes to Ed Miliband, Energy & Climate Change Secretary (right) in the U.K. government who has committed the nation to “significant infrastructure construction” in the next decade.

Miliband told the daily Telegraph Nov 7 Britain will face a serious energy crisis unless plans to build new nuclear power plants are sped up. The government warned that endless delays will have only one result – lights out. He told the newspaper, “”saying no to nuclear is no longer an option.

“We have go to say yes to nuclear energy. It isn’t just the green thing, it is the right thing by way of energy security.”

Miliband also targeted the expected backlash from anti-nuclear groups. He said, “We can’t have endless delay.”

The reason for Miliband’s move is that natural gas fields in the North Sea are running out and so-called clean coal technologies are not available at a commercial scale. He wants the first nuclear power station, at Hinkley, Somerset, 40 miles southwest of Bristol, to be in revenue service by 2017. He wants eight under construction by 2015 Otherwise, he says, the U.K. could experience blackouts on a major scale.

The UK very nearly drove their economy over the cliff with their nuclear shutdown. The problem for other democracies like the US is that their politicians may not see the cliff soon enough to avoid the fall. It isn’t always true, but it is usually a good bet that politicians can only see as far as the next election. New plants take a bit longer than 2 years to come on line.