‘Public will pay the price for Treasury underestimating nuclear costs’ – Ritchie
SDLP MP for South Down Margaret Ritchie has expressed concern that the UK government did not provide comprehensive information to the European Commission regarding the cost of the new nuclear power site at Hinkley.
Speaking to Newry Times, Ritchie stated, “I was disappointed that the European Commission gave the green light for another huge subsidy of nuclear power and am even more concerned having read that the Treasury did not provide adequate information to the Commission about the full cost of the new plant at Hinkley before they made their decision.
“It is astonishing that the UK government did not include the cost of waste storage or the decommissioning of the plant in the total cost.
“The Department of Energy and Climate Change currently pumps almost half of its annual budget into decommissioning Sellafield yet are happy to ignore this significant economic burden of nuclear energy from their current calculations.
“This wilful ignorance typifies the UK government’s approach to nuclear energy and it is the public who will end up paying for it. I will be pressing the Chancellor for answers on this in Westminster,” she added.
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