TRAWSFYNYDD CLEAN UP COST JUMP A SIGN OF WHAT'S TO COME - WILLOTT

12.00.00am GMT Wed 30th Jan 2008

Commenting on today's [Wednesday] National Audit Office report into the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Taking forward decommissioning, Jenny Willott, Welsh Liberal Democrat MP for Cardiff Central, said:

"The increase in Trawsfynydd decommissioning costs is yet another indication of just how much nuclear power costs in the long run.

"The total cost of dealing with existing nuclear waste has jumped by a staggering £17bn in just four years. For Trawsfynydd alone, the costs have risen by almost 25% and the date for final site clearance has been pushed back to 2098.

"No one knows what the total nuclear clean-up bill will be because no one has actually carried out an 80 year nuclear decommissioning before.

"There is no final solution in place to deal with existing stockpiles let alone any future waste. When fully decommissioned, Wales' two nuclear power stations will have generated enough nuclear waste to fill 60 Olympic size swimming pools.

"How then can the Government promise taxpayers that they won't have to bail out private companies for decommissioning new nuclear power stations?

"Rather than spending billions of pounds on new nuclear plants, ministers should focus on delivering increased energy efficiency and developing genuinely renewable forms of power."