Monday 6 December 2010

Top academic champions UK nuclear potential

The UK has "world leading-facilities which are utterly unique" in the field of nuclear R&D... but it is not making the most of them.

Professor Paul Howarth, a technology director at the National Nuclear Laboratory, said: "We have to capitalise. The UK has the best facilities in terms of research and development."

But Prof Howarth also told a Nuclear Industry Association conference that "there is a wide variation of potential new nuclear build".

"Estimates vary, some as low as 10GW of output, others show 70GW. Some are as high as 90GW. So there is a great deal of uncertainty over new nuclear," he added.