ENERGY WHITE PAPER: NUCLEAR AN EXPENSIVE MISTAKE

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 23rd May 2007

North East MEP Fiona Hall, Lib Dem spokesperson on energy in the European Parliament, has criticised the Government's proposals for nuclear power, set out in the Energy White Paper. She said:

"Climate change can be tackled without resorting to the expensive mistake of nuclear power.

"To prevent climate chaos we need to make drastic cuts in CO2 emissions by 2015. Nuclear power is irrelevant for this as it would take far too long to come on stream.

"What is more, directing focus and investment away from wind, wave and tidal power into nuclear will delay by decades our ability to get to a fully-renewable system.

"Nuclear power has a history of hidden costs and is fraught with potential dangers. There is also still the unanswered question of what to do with all the radioactive waste. "