Tuesday, June 26, 2012

New U.K. Nuclear Power Plants Could Boost Economy

The construction of a new fleet of nuclear power plants in the U.K. could boost the economy by five billion pounds a year, said a report published Tuesday.

Investment in new nuclear plants could also create more than 32,000 additional jobs a year while giving a significant boost to annual exports, said the report from the Institute for Public Policy Research.

The government is supporting new nuclear power plants in efforts to secure electricity supplies as old power plants close over the next decade while also meeting climate change targets with low-carbon energy.

The report was commissioned by EDF Energy, the U.K. subsidiary of Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR), which plans to build 6.4 gigawatts of new nuclear power in the U.K., or enough to power 10 million homes.
Spanish utility Iberdrola SA (IBE.MC) and France's GDF Suez SA (GSZ.FR) also have nuclear ambitions for the U.K.

"Investment in nuclear energy will have benefits in contributing to both economic growth and job creation and has the potential to give Britain a greater share in the export market," the report said.

Particularly at the local level, investment in nuclear energy can boost jobs. Delivery of up to 18 gigawatts of new nuclear energy could generate an average 11,250 direct jobs and the same number of indirect jobs per year. It is possible that between 5,000 and 10,000 induced jobs per year could also be generated with the necessary investment in place, the report said.

Export activity from the energy sector could more than double, from around GBP700 million annually now to between GBP1.2 billion to GBP1.7 billion by 2030 at today's prices, the report added.

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