Abstract
State support in one form or another has been necessary throughout the history of nuclear power station construction, both for political reasons and as a matter of economic necessity. This ...article considers various forms of state support, by reference to four contrasting jurisdictions: the UK, France, the USA and China. Of these, with the exception of China, new nuclear projects are struggling to varying degrees, despite support by the state. In China, new build is surging forward, coupled with an expansionist policy internationally. In all jurisdictions, the picture is however complicated. In both the USA and China, there is no coherent national approach, with conflicting regional or state policies. France has a very strong national framework, but this is at present not delivering the continued strength in nuclear power which characterized its history. The UK is desperately trying to achieve new build without the state directly taking on risk, but at great risk to future electricity consumers. The nature of new nuclear power stations is that, at least until they are up and running, they are risky propositions for investors. At present, the market seems unwilling to take that risk. Therefore, if a state desires a strong civil nuclear capability, whether for economic, political or energy security reasons, it will have to provide inducements for the development of new nuclear power stations. In reality this will have to involve risk to either taxpayers or electricity consumers.
The United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union and, until the terms of the 'Brexit' are negotiated, this has led to considerable uncertainty over the future practice of environmental impact ...assessment (EIA) and strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in the UK. Here we show that multiple obligations exist outside the scope of the EU which mean that EIA and SEA will continue to be required in the long term, but that their future compliance with the Directives remains unclear. We consider three scenarios for Brexit and present the implications of each; these are: signing up to the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement; membership of the European Free Trade Association, but not EEA, or negotiate a separate agreement. The implications of no longer being subjected to the obligations of the Directives under some scenarios are discussed and include opening the door for increasing diversity of application across the regions of the UK, and the probability of raised screening thresholds so as to reduce the burden of assessment on developers.
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