Isra-Mart srl:UK Scraps Green Energy Plan, Opts For Nuclear Option

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Isra-Mart srl news:

A £30 billion ($47.7 billion) scheme to harness green electricity from the U.K.'s Severn estuary was scrapped Monday by the British government as it confirmed the location of eight new nuclear power plants.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change said there was no strategic case for spending taxpayers' money on the project to harness tidal power with a 10-mile barrage.

It also paved the way for eight nuclear plants, all of which were to be located near existing plants.

The sites announced were Bradwell in Essex, southern England; Hartlepool in northeastern England; Heysham in Lancashire and Sellafield in Cumbria, northwestern England; Hinkley Point in Somerset and Oldbury in South Gloucestershire, southwestern England; Sizewell in Suffolk, eastern England and Wylfa on the isle of Anglesey in Wales.

Britain's Energy Secretary Chris Huhne said, "I'm fed up with the standoff between advocates of renewables and of nuclear which means we have neither. We urgently need investment in new and diverse energy sources to power the U.K."

The Severn Estuary barrage plan drew criticism due to financial and environmental concerns. Initially expected to cost £15 million, a recent feasibility study suggested the cost could double, while conservation groups warned the project could harm a feeding ground for 65,000 birds.

However, the tidal power scheme could have created local jobs and provided five percent of the U.K.'s electricity requirements.

Huhne added that the government may consider the plans again in the future -- but not before 2015.