A new owner for Hinkley Point. EDF, the giant French energy company, has taken over the power stations of British Energy with the blessing of the Government. It will mean a new nuclear Power station for Hinkley built by a company with enormous experience.

Yes there will be some controversy. But,  provided everything is done by the book and for the benefit of the community, it should help to provide more economic energy sources in the years to come. After a very long period of dither the Government is now backing nuclear power - alongside other energy sources - as the route to a more reliable and cleaner energy future. EDF is sound company. It takes over from British Energy. I am happy to endorse the professionalism of both.

When the first official statement was made in the House of Commons on January 10th - I intervened:

Mr. Ian Liddell-Grainger (Bridgwater) (Con):

"I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement because of my interest in Hinkley Point. West Somerset and Sedgemoor district councils have been working on a framework document for local people to get planning gain over the life of the nuclear industry; Hinkley Point has been around since 1957. Will the Secretary of State consider forming some sort of framework agreement extending from central Government to local government, so that the benefits come straight to a community fund or some other form of organisation that could benefit local people directly in their areas?"

This is an important point and the Government realised it. Hinkley's new power station may be in the national interest but it must also be engineered with the local community in mind - that means taking account of local feelings and making sure that the benefits of this project come our way fast. I will now be battling to ensure that the Government meets this standard.

Hinkley already has two nuclear power stations - but they are getting old and one of them is already being decommissioned. This means that Hinkley is already coming to terms with all the complications of nuclear power.....and, make no mistake about it, there are always complications whichever source of energy is chosen (even windmills blades fall off or fail to go round!)Work to remove fuel rods began a year or two ago. Formal planning consent from the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate has been given to begin the enormous task of decommissioning the plant. In its heyday Hinkley A employed 2600 people and during its lifetime contributed enough electricity to keep the whole UK supplied for a year. But dismantling the station will take a century - and the buildings, visible for miles around, will remain on the skyliine throughout that time. Hinkley B is still very much in service, but with a reduced workforce. Clearly the advent of a new station will bring large numbers of new jobs. 

  

I undertook a fact-finding mission to Hanford in Washington State, USA. This is a vast site half the size of the whole of Somerset which served as the test bed for America's nuclear bomb programme. The place is, or was, literally littered with nuclear waste. But the remarkable fact is that the Americans have got to grips with the clean-up. Hanford has become an example to the world and a source of the very best decommissioning and training skills. I travelled over with the leaders of Bridgwater College. There is a real chance that Bridgwater could now become a national centre of excellence for training new recruits in the crucial task of dismantling our ageing power plants with the utmost safety.

 

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EDF Energy:

• http://www.edf.com/the-edf-group-20403.html

British Energy:

• http://www.british-energy.co.uk/pagetemplate.php?pid=89

British Nuclear Fuel:

• http://www.bnfl.com/

The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate:

• www.hse-databases.co.uk/press/2003/e03164.htm

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority:

• http://www.nda.gov.uk/sites/hinkleypointa/

You might also find it useful to look at:

• http://www.hpa.org.uk/radiation/

Whatever you think about nuclear energy there is no doubt that Hinkley has contributed greatly to the local economy. Here's what I told local businesmen:

• www.quantockonline.co.uk/news/2002/hinkley_waste01.html

For alternative views on Hinkley here are four sites worth a look:

• http://www.llrc.org/rat/subrat/rat413.htm
• www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/07/274737.html 
• http://www.foe.co.uk/
• http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/nuclear