Concerns over Nuclear Power Subsidies need to be addressed - Crockart 

1 July 2010

Edinburgh West MP Mike Crockart has today raised concerns about the possible use of government subsidies to pay for any newly built nuclear power stations.

While the Coalition Government ha announced that Britain's next generation of nuclear power stations will be built without any assistance from the tax payer, Mike has expressed concerns at unknown costs such as decommissioning and waste disposal.

Speaking in the chamber, Mr Crockart asked the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps the Government was taking to ensure nuclear power stations receive absolutely no public subsidy.

Mike said:

"While the generation of nuclear power may well be competitive there is still considerable work to be done to ensure that the unknown costs of decommissioning and waste disposal are included in any calculations so they do not end up as a risk to future taxpayers."

Speaking after the debate, Mr Crockart added:

"I still remain concerned that Britain's new generation of nuclear power stations can be built without the need for any public subsidies.

There are too many unknown risk factors in the construction and decommissioning of these plants and history has proven that significant cost overruns have led to governments across the world having to step in and save the projects.

In Scotland we have the potential to become a world leader in the renewable energy industry and I urge the Government to invest in these schemes before throwing money at the nuclear energy industry."