Reponding to news of a takeover at British Energy, Ben Ayliffe, head of Greenpeace's nuclear campaign, said: "This is a staggeringly expensive way of doing very little to tackle climate change, given that a replacement nuclear programme can only reduce our carbon emissions by four per cent sometime after 2020. It's inconceivable that these enormous costs aren't going to be passed on to customers in the form of higher energy bills.
"It could cost EdF over £12bn to buy British Energy. Add to this at least a further £10bn to build the reactors, not forgetting the cost of upgrading the electricity grid and dealing with nuclear waste, and the bill for a handful of new atomic plants comes in at over £25bn.
"An equivalent investment in renewable technology and energy efficiency would deliver much bigger emissions cuts and provide hundreds of thousands of green collar jobs. But EdF are determined to block this path because, as they admit, growth in the renewables industry will kill off any hopes for more nuclear power."
ENDS
Greenpeace press office: 020 7865 8255
