Energy - Plan for nuclear stations
WORKERS, FEBRUARY 2009 ISSUE
Germany’s two largest power companies, E.ON and RWE, have announced a plan to build at least four nuclear reactors in Britain, at an estimated cost of £20 billion. The plants, the first of which is set to enter service within ten years, will provide at least six gigawatts of new generating capacity, 8 per cent of the generating capacity of all our existing power plants.
E.ON and RWE are expected to propose building at Wylfa, on Anglesey, where RWE has recently been granted approval for a connection to the National Grid, and at Oldbury, beside the River Severn in Gloucestershire, where E.ON has obtained similar permission.
The 50:50 joint venture would also explore the possibility of building reactors on other nuclear sites. These could include former British Energy sites such as Bradwell in Essex and Dungeness in Kent.
With 25 gigawatts, a third of Britain’s energy-generating capacity, due to expire by 2020, this is good news for British workers and for British industry. But it is only the first, indispensable step towards energy security for Britain.