UK energy plans: government and public favour more nuclear

If you’ve been following the energy news coming out the UK over the last year or so you’ll know that the government is keen to ensure nuclear power plays a sizeable role in the UK’s energy mix going forward. In addition to signing a nuclear cooperation agreement with France earlier this year – estimated to be worth £500 million in contracts – it is expected that the new energy legislation will include significant pro-nuclear subsidies to encourage a new wave of power station construction.
In general, most governments tend to understand that nuclear energy is a crucial part of securing a country’s energy supplies while also reducing emissions. What I was very pleased to read, however, was the results of a recent survey showing that more UK residents now favour an increase in nuclear energy.

You can check out the details of the poll here.  Essentially around 40% of the survey respondents felt the UK should use more nuclear power stations – double the numbers of those who thought there should be less power stations (20%) and nearly double the numbers of those who favoured the status quo (21%).

In addition, the survey found that carbon-emitted power stations such as coal, oil and gas were deeply unpopular. Personally I find it very reassuring when the public shows a clear understanding of the economic and environmental benefits of nuclear energy and the crucial importance of growing its part in the energy mix going forward.

Dev Randhawa