Reacting to suggestions that the government will announce support for new nuclear power stations this week, Greenpeace executive director John Sauven said:
"Going for nuclear allows politicians like Gordon Brown to project the impression that they are taking difficult decisions to solve difficult problems when they are doing nothing of the sort. In reality new nuclear power stations simply will not solve our energy problems and that's because there's a lie at the heart of the government's energy policy. Nuclear power can only deliver a 4 per cent cut in carbon emissions some time after 2025. That's too little, and too late, while generations to come will be left with an expensive legacy of our nuclear waste to clean up. "
He continued: "We need energy efficiency, cleaner use of fossil fuels, renewables and state-of-the-art decentralised power stations like they have in Scandinavia. These technologies have the potential to deliver reliable low carbon energy quicker and cheaper. They are also safe and are more globally applicable, unlike nuclear, but these energy solutions will be strangled if cash and political energy get thrust at nuclear power instead."
ENDS
For more information, contact the Greenpeace press office on 0207 865 8255.
