UK’s nuclear future hangs on electricity tax

by Paul Brown The new British prime minister, Boris Johnson, must soon decide whether to save the UK’s nuclear future with an unpopular electricity tax. LONDON, 21 January, 2020 ? Pressure is mounting on the UK’s new Conservative government to rescue its nuclear programme through an electricity tax, to throw […]

REMARKS BY TOM BURKE AT THE LAUNCH OF THE WORLD NUCLEAR INDUSTRY REPORT 2019 – CHATHAM HOUSE

At a time when truth is under systematic political attack and digital technologies are collapsing the public attention span, the publication of long data series such as the Nuclear Industry Status Report becomes increasingly important. The real world is not a headline; it does not have a half-life of 24 […]

More power in Britain came from renewables than fossil fuels in 2019 – Sky News

Here are some excerpts of the interview I did for Sky News about the announcement from the National Grid that more power came from renewable sources than from fossil fuels for the first time in Britain in 2019. I think that it is a very important milestone. It means that […]

Do we need some base provision from nuclear power if we are to keep the lights on? – Sky News

We don’t need nuclear power to keep the lights on, which is fortunate as nuclear power stations are unplanned offline about 25% of the time. They are also intermittent, as indeed is all generation, so it is fortunate that we don’t actually need base load power. It’s about five years […]

Hitachi to Halt Work on Wales Nuclear Plant – BBC World Service

Japan’s Hitachi is to halt work on a nuclear plant in Wales amid rising cost concerns. Tom Burke is chairman of the environmental research group E3G, and a former UK government advisor on energy policy, and tells us why the company is pulling out. Also in the programme, ahead of […]

Wylfa Nuclear Power Station

The Board of Hitachi are rescuing the Government from an expensive and damaging mistake. We already know how expensive new nuclear will be because of our experience with Hinkley. For that project to go ahead the Government had to buy all of its electricity for the next 35 years at […]

Climate Change and the Extractives | RAW Talks with Tom Burke

Climate change is a hot topic, and Tom Burke has been at the centre of the debate from the beginning – he coined the term ‘Green Growth’ already back in the 1980s. In this interview, we talk to Tom to explore the link between climate change and the extractives. RAW […]

The future of nuclear power in Britain

Thank you for inviting me to contribute to this conference. Phil and Andy have done something very important in picking up an overlooked aspect of the public conversation on the future of nuclear power in this country. British Governments have become skilled in recent years at concealing their policy intent […]

Nuclear costs have always been unmeetable – ITV – Border TV

Nuclear costs have always been unmeetable, in comparison with renewables, in comparison with energy efficiency, and other ways to meet energy services, so the whole prospect for this program has never been sound.

I’m just a soul whose intentions are good, please don’t let me be misunderstood

REMARKS BY MR TOM BURKE CBE AT THE CASTLE DEBATE ON THE CLEAN GROWTH STRATEGY, DLA PIPER, 3 NOBLE STREET, LONDON, JULY 3RD 2018. ‘I’m just a soul whose intentions are good, please don’t let me be misunderstood’ The Animals This is the song that came to my mind immediately […]