The after-effects of Japan鈥檚 megaquake and tsunami continue to be felt. Two planned UK power stations have become the latest victims of the anti-nuclear sentiment that followed the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant last year. However, renewable technologies are unlikely to benefit.
German utility companies RWE and E.ON have pulled the plug on a joint project to build nuclear reactors at Wylfa on the island of Anglesey and Oldbury in Gloucestershire. The firms blame a shortage of cash following the German government鈥檚 decision last year to abandon nuclear power.
鈥淭here is no doubt that the withdrawal is a symptom of a much wider post-Fukushima effect,鈥� says of Sussex University in Brighton, UK.
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Germany was the most prominent country to withdraw from nuclear power following Fukushima, and will close all 22 of its power reactors within the next decade. In September last year, Germany鈥檚 biggest nuclear builder, Siemens, abandoned the industry .
Knock-on effects
Italy and Switzerland have also dropped plans for future plants. A public backlash, combined with safety reviews, means that only one of Japan鈥檚 50 power reactors is currently generating.
And then there鈥檚 China鈥檚 delay in construction of new plants pending a safety review. 鈥淭he longish pause in Chinese ordering is perhaps the most spectacular knock-on effect from Fukushima,鈥� says MacKerron.
The UK鈥檚 nuclear ambitions were not stymied by Fukushima. Wylfa and Oldbury were among eight sites chosen for a new generation of reactors. France鈥檚 EDF and the Franco-Spanish NuGen remain committed to building UK reactors.
Despite the drop-off in nuclear power generation, Germany鈥檚 decision may not mean a boost for European green energy . 鈥淚nvestment is stalling generally across the energy industry, including the major investment needed for offshore wind projects,鈥� says of the Royal Academy of Engineering in London.
The energy technology most likely to gain from any nuclear freeze in UK is gas turbines, says McKerron. With gas prices high, they cost a lot to run 鈥� but they are cheap and quick to build.
While carbon emissions from gas-fired power plants are only half those for coal, they are higher than for nuclear or renewables and so would threaten .
