Energy channel

Peering down from a viewing gallery high up in Torness nuclear power station, plant director Brian Cowell points out a turbine about the size of a large off-road vehicle.

"That alone is enough to power about 2 million homes in Scotland," he says. "It is the equivalent of building 600 wind turbines."

The turbine is one of two housed at Torness, an imposing blue-grey plant perched on the east coast of Scotland, about 35 miles south of Edinburgh.

Torness is one of eight British nuclear power stations owned by operator British Energy. Responsible for around 20 percent of Britain's electricity supply, the company agreed on September 24 to be bought for 12.5 billion pounds by France's state-owned EDF.

Cowell's office looks out over the open grassland that could be the site of a new, French-owned station likely to be built if the deal goes through.

Although the deal is a consequence of British government strategy outlined back in January, placing the future of the country's electricity supply in foreign hands amid concern about energy security may make it politically sensitive.

"We are preparing to surrender control of our energy policy to a foreign-controlled company which will not have the best interests of British customers or the British economy at heart," says Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary Steve Webb.

"It's more important to look at the strength of the supply that we enjoy rather than who owns it," British Energy chairman Adrian Montague countered on the BBC's Today radio program as the deal was announced, shrugging off concerns that selling to the French was a risk to security.

EDF already has a foothold in the British market by supplying gas and electricity to household customers of its EDF Energy division, notes Keith Parker, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA).

"Nuclear is now a global market place," he says.

Advocates of nuclear power say it is the best way to shield Britain from fluctuating prices or exterior supply.

"Nuclear power enhances indigenous energy supplies in the UK, and helps decrease the dependence on imported energy sources," Parker says.

British Energy holds the key to the future of Britain's power supply, but its stations - located at remote points all around the UK - are nearing the end of their lives. All but one are due to expire within 15 years.

Acknowledging this, and to attempt to counter public distrust of nuclear energy, the government called for the building of a whole new fleet of stations as part of the deal.

EDF will build and operate the new stations, although it may sell some sites to a third party.

The sale of British Energy, which is 35 percent controlled by the government, is an admission by Britain that the company does not have the technological know-how or cash to support a modern nuclear fleet on its own.

Cowell notes that Torness's gas reactor was inefficient and out of date compared to French water reactors. Torness has to drop its output to about 40 percent every month to refuel, whereas Sizewell - the only plant with a water reactor in Britain - only needs to refuel every 18 months.

EDF, the world's largest nuclear operator with 58 reactors across 19 sites in France, may have cash, expertise, and superior design, but it still faces big challenges including unresolved problems about what to do with nuclear waste.

Legislation on waste was included in a government bill earlier this year that has yet to be passed. The most likely solution is to store it in deep underground holes - a policy EDF supports.

"For the safe disposal and management of spent fuel, deep underground repositories are now widely recognized as a practical and economic solution. These are already being developed in several countries around the world, including France, Sweden and Finland," Vincent de Rivaz, chief executive of EDF's UK arm EDF Energy, said in a recent speech.

"It should be held in a box, and put into a managed underground chamber. There have been other ideas like shooting it into space, but these have been rejected," Cowell adds.

Agencies

(China Daily 10/06/2008 page11)