Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in the UK will apparently be the most expensive building on earth and an ongoing costly, toxic time capsule says a new report.
Hinkley originally promised “electricity too cheap to meter”. That hasn’t turned out to be the case and the station could represent a very bad deal for those not yet born.
The £24.5 billion build cost for Hinkley Point C is only just the beginning and it seems going forward it will just be a case of throwing good money after bad.
Research published jointly by the Intergenerational Foundation and the New Weather Institute suggests canceling the troubled power plant could save Britain at least £30–£40 billion – the additional cost of its power for the 35- year contract period.
The figure might just be scratching the surface of potential savings as the £30–£40 billion doesn’t include potential additional costs associated with issues such as waste management, security and under-insurance subsidisation.
It’s not just Hinkley that threatens a costly legacy; financial and otherwise.
“With 13 nuclear reactors planned or proposed for the UK, the government is tying the hands of our children and grandchildren by handing them a toxic mix of high prices per KWh for electricity generated, high and long-term unknown costs for managing radioactive waste, complex and long-term security requirement costs, and a less secure and vulnerable energy infrastructure,” says Intergenerational Foundation co-founder, Angus Hanton.
A better intergenerational deal exists in the rapid deployment of renewable energy. The authors say a range of renewable energy options already available offer a less costly, cleaner, more secure, more adaptable and quicker to deliver solution.
The report states if the additional cost of power generated by Hinkley Point C compared to onshore wind and solar power was applied to all proposed reactors for the UK, the additional cost of nuclear would be between £175 billion and £220 billion. That’s between £2,700 and £3,400 for every man, woman and child in the UK currently.
The report: ” “Toxic Time Capsule: Why nuclear energy is an intergenerational issue” can be viewed in full here (PDF).
