Britain announce 8 new nuclear plants

The UK government has announced plans to build eight new nuclear power stations in its bid to avert and energy crisis and to reduce its carbon emissions.

The announcement was described as a U-turn decision by the Liberal Democrats, the junior party to the coalition, who labeled nuclear as a “tried, tested and failed technology”, before the deal that gave them a share in the UK’s supreme politics.

The Lib Dems had opposed a new generation of nuclear power stations because of their expense and worries over their safety.

Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Energy, announced the construction of the plants, which will begin operating between 2018 and 2025.

He also announced a drive to put up wind turbines around the coast, install more solar panels in homes, and invest in technology to limit polluting emissions from conventional coal-fired power stations.

The energy package was set out following government warnings that the lights would go out by 2020 without urgent action to replace power plants nearing the end of their life.

The sites identified as suitable are alongside existing nuclear plants in Bradwell, Essex; Hartlepool; Heysham, Lancashire; Hinkley Point, Somerset; Oldbury, Gloucestershire; Sellafield, Cumbria; Sizewell, Suffolk; and Wylfa, Anglesey. Existing nuclear power stations will also be allowed to extend their life until the new plants are built.

Western countries including the United Kingdom are increasingly investing in the so-called ‘clean energy’ generation capabilities mostly nuclear energy, but at the same time they are doing what they can to deprive independent nations such as Iran of acquiring the required technology to produce nuclear energy.