WITH the announcement that Britain is, at long last, going to get new nuclear power stations, it highlights, unfortunately, the realisation that Britain is now a shadow of the former industrial nation it used to be.

These new nuclear power stations will be funded by China and built by France.

Once Britain was renown-ed, all over the world, for its industrial might which produced and exported ships, bridges, locomotives, aircraft, cars, motorcycles, machine tools, armaments, wool and cotton spinning/weaving machinery, etc.

The list is virtually endless.

We have manufactured nuclear power stations, but alas, the skills which pioneered and produced the various types of nuclear power stations here in the UK, from ‘Magnox’ to ‘PWR’ to ‘Fast breeders’, appears to have been lost and the new nuclear power stations will be built by the French company EDF.

Also there is the distinct possibility China would build, and operate, another one.

Chancellor George Osborne says: “The Chinese deal means the tens of billions of pounds of taxpayers’ cash that would have been spent on nuclear projects could otherwise be spent on the NHS, education or lowering tax rates.”

Whenever has any Government-sponsored scheme come in on budget?

RIP industrial nation.

Philip Roe, Roman Avenue South, Stamford Bridge

 

THE Press reported that villagers near Selby have blocked plans for a wind turbine (September 21).

Many of our coal and nuclear power stations will close in the next five to ten years.

Up to 20 per cent of the gas we use to heat our homes and generate electricity now comes by sea from the Middle East.

And the new nuclear power station planned at Hinkley C will not now start producing until some time after 2023 – if the Chinese decide to fund it.

Meanwhile, the National Grid warns that if we have a cold winter, the margin between electricity supply and demand could fall to one per cent, meaning that one failing power station could trigger blackouts across the country.

Wind turbines are not a total solution, but they generate electricity without Russian coal or Qatari gas, just pollution-free British wind.

If we are not to build wind turbines, where do the protesters plan to get the power we need to solve our growing energy crisis?

Anthony Day, The Sustainability Coach, York