From dirty coal to nuclear bliss: What will the UK's switch to nuclear power mean in practice?

Since the announcement under the last government that the UK's energy future was to be tied to the double edged sword of nuclear power parties on all sides of the atomic energy debate have been kept in the lurch. False starts and u-turns have slowed progress to a stutter but now, as negotiations between the government and EDF enter their final stage and Hitachi sign a £700 million deal to build new reactors the likelihood of increased nuclear power is slowly becomes a reality. We need to ask, what will this mean?

 Nuclear power is an issue dominated by the ghosts of past disasters. Fukashima and Chernobyl weigh heavily on the public consciousness whenever nuclear power is debated. However putting aside the obvious safety concerns it can not be denied that nuclear energy is a clean and more serious alternative to fossil fuel combustion than any other proposed renewable fuel source. Not only is the technology already in place and well understood but the carbon emissions associated with generation compared to,for example, coal are significantly lower. The World Nuclear Association cited a 2002 study of the Forsmark plant in Sweden shows a 3.10 gram per kilo Watt hour carbon footprint. This figure is derived from the carbon emissions involved in the building of the plant, mining of ore for use in generation, transport, waste management and other factors. These energy 'inputs' are reckoned to represent only 1.74% of the total energy generated at an average plant during its lifetime. Nuclear power may be the only way for the UK to even come close to meeting its emission reduction targets.

For you, me and everyone else paying a electricity bill the effect of increased nuclear power is unclear. Some sources suggest that in the long term nuclear power will be cheaper than coal and gas, especially as fossil fuels become harder and harder to extract.

However initially there may be a hike in prices associated with the setup costs of a new generation of nuclear power plants. However the building of new nuclear power plants may, in the end, be surplus to requirements. A report in October of this year suggests that by 2018 the renewable sector will have outstripped nuclear power and that by as soon as 2015 10% of British homes will be supplied with power from renewable sources. Faced with this kind of competition and with progress on new nuclear infrastructure slow nuclear power may never live up to its billing as the 'clean' future of British power.