Leading experts side with Greenpeace; process now "vulnerable to legal challenge"
A new report from a coalition of top nuclear industry experts has accused the UK Government of failing the British public by conducting a second flawed consultation into the future of nuclear power in this country.
The document, entitled Nuclear Consultation: Public Trust in Government, was written by a group of industry insiders including the current members of two parliamentary committees set up to oversee the sector. It claims that the five month consultation was rushed, undemocratic and failed to properly represent the complexities of the issues involved.
The report will increase the pressure on the Government after Greenpeace lodged an official complaint into the process with the Market Research Standards council (MRSC) in October.
The report asserts that:
- Gordon Brown and Tony Blair repeatedly pre-judged the out come of the second consultation by making statements to Parliament and elsewhere suggesting the decision had already been taken, leaving the consultation "vulnerable to legal challenge".
- Government organised "deliberative events" with members of the public "were designed to provide particular and limited answers", based on "contentious information".
- Members of the public were not adequately informed about the remaining risks and uncertainties surrounding new nuclear build, including the problem of nuclear waste, terrorist attacks and spiraling costs.
- Alternative energy technologies like wind and solar power were not presented as credible alternatives, despite the fact that the UK has the best renewable energy resources in Europe.
- Nuclear power was presented as a major solution to the problem of climate change - glossing over the fact that, according to the Government's own figures, new reactors would reduce the UK's C02 emissions by just 4%
The authors comprise many of the leading experts in the fields of environmental risk, radiation waste, energy policy, energy economics, political science, social science, environmental justice, and the emergent arena of democratic involvement.
The report's editor, Dr Paul Dorfman, is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Warwick as well as the former Co-Secretary to the Committee Examining Radiation Risks from Internal Emitters (CERRIE).
Other authors include Prof Frank Barnaby, Nuclear Issues Consultant at the Oxford Research Group and Prof Andy Blowers of The Open University, who is an ex member of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management 1 (CoRWM 1)
Reacting to the report, Greenpeace executive director John Sauven said:
"For such senior insiders to be so critical of the consultation process is a deeply troubling commentary on the Government's approach to this issue. And as the report reveals, nuclear power could only reduce the UK's carbon dioxide emissions by 4% by 2025 - too little, too late.
Our lawyers are looking at this report and will also examine the Government's decision on new nuclear build with great interest. We won't be rushed into a decision, but nothing has been ruled out at this stage."
For more information contact the Greenpeace press office on 0207 865 8255.
