Blair and Chirac strike nuclear deal
Britain and France have today agreed to set up a nuclear forum to share information on decommissioning, research and waste management.
Tony Blair said the new group, which will involve government, industry and technical experts, showed how the issue of energy security, and nuclear power in particular, was “right at the top of the agenda”.
The announcement will be seen as further confirmation that the prime minister is set on replacing Britain’s network of ageing nuclear power plants, despite the fact that the government’s energy review is not due to report back until next month.
“We have so much that we can work on together, not least in the area of nuclear power, and the establishment of a British-French nuclear forum will allow us to discuss all the difficult issues in relation to this,” Mr Blair told a joint press conference.
France currently gets about 80 per cent of its energy from nuclear power, compared to Britain’s 20 per cent, and French president Jacques Chirac said it was “logical” for the two countries to “work hand in glove” on the issue.
However, shadow trade and industry secretary Alan Duncan said today’s announcement was a sign that the prime minister was “clearly making a hasty dash for nuclear power, in order to define his legacy before he leaves office”.
He said there was no indication as yet of how the replacement of Britain’s nuclear power plants would be paid for, nor was there any new policy on dealing with nuclear waste.
“Yet still [the government’s] solution is a series of headline-grabbing announcements proving only that the energy review was a smokescreen,” Mr Duncan said.
“The Conservative party is committed to an open-minded energy review and is taking an evidence-based approach to the question of nuclear power.”
Reports in today’s newspapers suggest the Tories are likely to take a more cautious approach to nuclear power when they publish the results of their energy review later this summer.
They are set to oppose industry calls for a guaranteed price for nuclear-generated electricity on the national grid or a fixed quota for how much power would be used – safeguards to persuade investors it would be worth putting money into new plants.
