Fast track to 2065, life remains familiar in many ways, the English are still sophisticated, the Americans are still not to be trusted, and there is still a terrorist threat in the Middle East. Having just celebrated “Back-To-The-Future Day,” many 50 year-olds who grew up on the iconic Thunderbirds may be wondering if it’s a good idea to live to 100. David Cameron must have spent his youth watching East Enders or something else, or perhaps owns a secret island in the middle of the Pacific. In any case, he seems to be ignoring what is likely to be the consequences of a nuclear future, which is not pretty.
No doubt Britain needs to secure power for the future, and that will have to incorporate Nuclear in part, but the rhetoric coming out of our motherland is that it is the only power source for the future! Not only are they celebrating the onset of a 10-year build of a new 3.2GW power station at a cost of $US38 billion (that’s $US11900.00 per kilowatt of output), they are now saying that power prices in Britain are artificially low and should rise to fund the construction.
Now the cost of a new-build coal power station sits at about $4-5000.00 per kilowatt output, the fuel is dirty and it consumes volumes of other resources as well, nuclear is a close second. The other thing to consider is that this new power station, at Hinkley Point (remember Hinkley California) is supposed to power the north of England, a thousand miles away, needing at least two 800 KvDC cables to connect it to whatever load they dream up in this new supercharged region.
The guarantee of a purchase price of $198.00 per megawatt-hour would make anyone tip money into a 10-year, fully funded project, especially if it is fully guaranteed by the government. But what does this say about wind, solar and wave energy prospects?
It doesn’t take a genius to realise that those who govern us have absolutely no faith in renewables when it comes to the heavy lifting. Or does it mean that the development of renewables is being deliberately forsaken for the interests of higher powers?
Gerry Anderson‘s 2065 earth had nuclear powered everything and the disasters to match. What does this new powerhouse UK Northern Economy look like? And what does David Campbell plan to do with the other 12 nuclear plants he wants to build in the future?
With the sort of money being pledged to this new round of nukes in England we could probably build enough solar and hydrogen plants to power most of Britain without the inevitable Chernobyls and Fukushimas – disasters that just keep giving. If there is that much money to spend on energy, give it to us. We promise not to kill the earth with it!
Rob Campbell is CEO of Vulcan Energy
