Greenpeace has criticised plans to build nuclear power plants that could bring hundreds of jobs to Teesside , saying the new reactors will fail to solve any of the problems associated with nuclear energy. Newcastle company Penultimate Power UK revealed earlier this week that it has signed a deal with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency to use its technology to build small scale nuclear reactors across the UK. If its plans go ahead, Penultimate Power would not only build its first power plant in Teesside, but would also create a factory in the area capable of building components for a series of reactors across the country. Penultimate Power believes its new plants could help solve the UK’s energy crisis, but the proposals have been met with criticism from environmental protection group Greenpeace. Commenting on Penultimate Power’s plans, Dr Doug Parr, chief scientist at Greenpeace UK, said: “Without strong evidence to the contrary, we think it’s fair to assume that these proposed reactors will suffer from the same problems as all other reactor designs. They are likely to be too expensive to compete with renewables and too slow to build to help fill the UK’s looming energy gap. “They will create dangerous waste for which there is no workable plan anywhere in the world, and increase the risk of extremely costly accidents. “The Government has now realised that backing nuclear was a huge strategic error and are having to re-write their energy policy in a hurry. Sooner or later people will have to accept that the next reactor design is no more likely to solve nuclear’s fundamental problems than the last one or the one before that.”
Teeside Gazette 13th Feb 2019 read more »
