New briefing reveals major problems with British Energy rescue proposals
Seventy two percent of the British public favour funding of wind power over the nuclear industry according to a MORI poll funded by Greenpeace [1]. The results lend weight to calls for the Government to reject special pleading by British Energy for a cash bailout and instead respond to calls from the renewable energy industry for comparable investments in offshore wind farms and domestic solar power.
Greenpeace has also published today a detailed assessment [2] of the various 'rescue' options favoured by British Energy for saving the crippled company. The briefing shows that all of the options are highly problematic - some would breach EU competition law whilst others might harm other parts of Government such as British Nuclear Fuels or the Treasury.
For instance:
- Changing the New Electricity Trading Agreements (NETA) to favour British Energy would breach EU competition law and provoke the ire of non-nuclear generators
- Leasing Magnox stations from BNFL could be a breach of UK and EU procurement regulations
- Exempting nuclear from the Climate Change Levy could reduce Treasury receipts from the electricity sector by up to 28%. Any such move would have to be re-submitted to the EU for clearance to ensure it was not an illegal state aid
Emma Gibson, Head of the Nuclear Campaign at Greenpeace, said:
"British Energy has nowhere to run. It's time the Government finally accepted that the nuclear industry will never make money and cannot be rescued. Taxpayers want their money put into renewable energy which is safe and reliable rather than wasting the cash on dangerous and uneconomic nuclear reactors."
"British Energy is not another Railtrack - it holds no monopoly of power generation and there are many other competing technologies which are safer and more economic. According to AEA Technology, wind farms off the coast of East Anglia could generate the same amount of power as the entire British nuclear industry and would be economic, safe and popular."
Notes for editors:
- MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 973 adults aged 15+, face-to-face in home, throughout Great Britain between 17-21 May 2002. Data have been weighted to reflect the national profile. For the full MORI poll visit www.mori.com.
- Briefing available from Press Office or download here (file prepared as a pdf).
Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255
