Blair warned on ‘rush for nuclear’

A senior cabinet minister has warned the Prime Minister that controversial proposals to build new nuclear power stations across Britain have hidden costs and consequences for climate change.

Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland and Welsh Secretary, said the nuclear industry must prove it was a better bet than wind and wave power, arguing that its process – touted as better for the environment than dirty coal-fired stations – actually produced high amounts of carbon, which is linked to global warming.

..The attack comes ahead of a government energy review to be launched this week. This is designed to combat fears that the lights in Britain could go out within two decades, as dwindling domestic reserves force this country to depend on oil and gas primarily from Russia and the Middle East.

.. ‘There has to be an assessment of what you could do with the billions that would be spent on nuclear power, [if you spent it] on renewable energy.’

The Observer