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Power ahead with new station
AN extra cabinet meeting was held this week to consider the response to the consultation on the Government's draft national policy statement
for nuclear power generation (and other national policy statements).
We have undertaken a substantial consultation process with a wide variety of methods being used.
The idea was to get the views of as many people as possible and give everybody living in Hartlepool a chance to have their say on the future of nuclear power generation, particularly in the town.
A dedicated website was produced, which provided all sorts of information on nuclear power as well as both an economic and environmental impact assessment, should a new station be built in Hartlepool.
There was an online questionnaire and we also used the Viewpoint survey, which brought in over 800 responses.
The issue was discussed at a number of public meetings and views were noted and there was a hugely successful Question Time-style event, with a panel of experts representing a cross section of views.
I have made no secret of my views on this issue in that I firmly believe a new nuclear power station is absolutely vital to the future of Hartlepool and the benefits will be enormous.
I am delighted that the consultation has showed that the vast majority of Hartlepudlians agree with me and the results are conclusive and leave no one in any doubt that Hartlepool, as a town, fully supports the development of new nuclear power stations and would wish to see one built here to replace the current station.
The results of the consultation will provide the basis for our response to the Government's consultation and we will also send the results to EDF, the owners of the power station.
It is now up to us to convince both the Government and EDF to build a new nuclear power station in Hartlepool and to do it sooner rather than later.
The biggest obstacle we have at the minute is the disparity of costs to plug in to the National Grid.
From the North of England, it costs in the region of 12 per kwh, from the middle of the country it costs a couple of quid and down South it is free and some companies are even subsidised to plug into the grid.
This is not right and cannot continue otherwise we can kiss goodbye to all types of power generation in the North of England and that include wind, wave and tidal.
The second issue is that EDF plans to build four new nuclear power stations in its first wave of development and all four of these will be in the South-East.
We now need to make the path as easy as possible for EDF to come to Hartlepool and if there are any problems with any of the first four sites, we need to be ready to step up to the plate and take their place.
I think this positive consultation exercise will show them we want them, now we have to convince them to come here as early as possible.
I will seek meetings with the senior people at EDF to try to gently persuade them to look favourably on Hartlepool.
In the meantime, there are still some pertinent questions to be asked. I understand that the new fleet of power stations are a new design, so we need to be 100 per cent sure on safety.
The safety record at the current power station is absolutely exemplary and that was built more than 30 years ago.
I am a great believer in new technology and would have no reason to think that there will be safety problems with the new design but safety is paramount and was the issue that came out most in the consultation.
I also want to be assured that a new power station will be totally constructed on site and not built elsewhere and the bits shipped over.
It is vital that Hartlepool gets the maximum benefit out of a new power station so it would need to be constructed here.
This brings me on to my final point.
We can now start having the debate about what exactly Hartlepool can get out of having a new nuclear power station.
The economic impact assessment shows that just the new build could be worth up to 4 billion to the local economy.
On top of that, there would be up to 3,000 jobs over a five-year period so you can imagine the value to many dozens of local companies.
We now have an opportunity to get into the minds of our young people and show them that a career in the nuclear industry is a great one.
I am certain that most people know someone who works or has worked at the power station and I bet you have never heard a bad word said against it.
It is a fantastic place to work and a great opportunity for a new generation to carve out a career.
What can we get out of it as a town?
I know that in the South-East, as part of the planning gains, one place is getting a new leisure centre, another is getting better roads.
The possibilities are endless, however, my preferred benefit would be cheap electricity for everyone in Hartlepool for at least a decade.
There is no reason why this cannot be thrown in to any negotiations and if every single household in the town gets to see a major reduction in their energy bills, I think even the people who are dead against having a new nuclear power station might feel a bit more relaxed about it.
The next step is for the Government to publish its nuclear statement policy. I'm not sure when this will be but let's hope it comes before the election and then we can concentrate of getting a new power station to Hartlepool sooner rather than later.
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Weather for Hartlepool
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Light sleet showers
Temperature: -1 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 1 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: West
