nuclear power

This piece by Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven first appeared on Comment Is Free.

Against the backdrop of the worldwide economic downturn, it is ironic that the area often said to have the least business certainty, the renewables sector, is one of the few success stories. Globally this industry is bucking the trends, creating millions of new green jobs, increasing countries' energy independence and reducing climate-changing emissions. So it is scandalous that the CBI should come out attacking the prime minister and the climate change secretary Ed Miliband's commitment to boosting this industry in Britain just days before the launch of a fresh government initiative.

A new report out today casts doubt on the ability of the nuclear industry to deliver its promised new reactors.

French companies EDF and Areva, who are at the forefront of the new worldwide reactor design and building programme, have been making serious investments in foreign markets where they hope to build new reactors, including here in the UK. As a consequence they are heavily in debt.

Proposed sites of new nuclear power stations. See below for key

Do you live in the vicinity of one of these 11 locations, which are being proposed as potential sites for new nuclear power stations? Happy about it? If not, then you've got less than three weeks to read and respond to the information provided by the companies bidding to develop each site as part of the government's 'consultation' process.

Not only that, but if you take the information contained in the 'have your say' guide on the  government's website, you'll run the risk of being seriously misled over issues as fundamental as how much  nuclear actually contributes to the UK's energy mix, and how and where the spent fuel will be disposed of.

Backers of the controversial MOX plant at Sellafield, which promised to turn toxic waste into a useable fuel that could be sold worldwide, had claimed the plant would make a profit of more than £200m in its lifetime, producing 120 tonnes of recycled fuel a year.

But an investigation published in today's Independent newspaper reveals what the government has been trying to keep secret - that technical problems and a dearth in orders has meant it has produced just 6.3 tonnes of fuel since opening in 2001.

Since building work began in the 1990s the plant has absorbed over £1 billion in public subsidies - money which could have been far better invested in developing renewable energy projects.

With echoes of that fantastic/horrifying nuclear thriller Edge Of Darkness (don't wait for the film, see the original TV series), energy giant EDF has been busted for spying on our colleagues at the Greenpeace in France.

Five people have been indicted by the French courts, including two EDF security executives, a computer expert and the head of a private investigation firm. The charge: attempting to hack into Greenpeace computer systems in France.