Thread by @ShellenbergerMD

We had a great talk with Labour Party leader @jeremycorbyn & Chair of All-Party Group on Climate @alexsobel on the importance of nuclear to Britain's energy security given the phase-out of coal, growing reliance on imported nat gas & inherent unreliability of renewables

THREAD:

@jeremycorbyn @alexsobel Britain currently gets electricity from the following mix of reliable and unreliable sources

Reliable:

Nuclear: 19%
Coal: 5%
Nat gas: 39%
Hydro: 2%
Biomass: 11%
Oil: 1%
Other fossil: 2%

Unreliable

Wind: 17%
Solar: 4%

@jeremycorbyn @alexsobel When you look around the world, it's only those nations that have a significant amount of electricity from nuclear that have decarbonized their electricity grids like Sweden, France, & Switzerland.

Hydro is great for as far as it goes, but Britain is near its max for hydro.

@jeremycorbyn @alexsobel In terms of cost, just look at France vs. Germany

France generates electricity that is 10x cleaner — less carbon-intensive — than Germany's, and for nearly half the price

@jeremycorbyn @alexsobel What about the waste? Of all forms of energy, only nuclear waste is entirely and safely contained, which is why it never hurts anyone nor ever will

There is 300x more solar waste than nuclear waste, it contains heavy metals, and none of it is safely contained

@jeremycorbyn @alexsobel Fears of nuclear waste are unfounded and come from fear-mongering by anti-nuclear activists ever since the 1960s

forbes.com/sites/michaels…

@jeremycorbyn @alexsobel Won't more nuclear energy bring more nuclear weapons?

Don't be silly. Britain already has the bomb.

And the bomb wasn't the apocalyptic event people in the 60s feared, and fear-mongered over.

@jeremycorbyn @alexsobel Indeed, there's a good case to be made that lingering fears of the bomb are the single greatest obstacle to saving the planet from environmental destruction

forbes.com/sites/michaels…

@jeremycorbyn @alexsobel The trouble with renewables is that they make electricity expensive everywhere for the same reasons: they are inherently unreliable and energy-dilute, requiring huge amounts of land and transmission

@jeremycorbyn @alexsobel What about the cost over-run in building Hinkley Point C nuclear plant?

Normal for large construction projects.

For comparison, here are other cost over-runs (all in billion dollars):

Space Station: 68
Channel Tunnel: 21
HS2: 29
London Olympics: 12
Crossrail: 5

@jeremycorbyn @alexsobel According to Univ of Chicago, renewables mandates in US "significantly increase average retail electricity prices, with prices increasing by 11% (1.3 cents per kWh) 7 years after the policy’s passage into law & 17% (2 cents per kWh) 12 years afterward."

forbes.com/sites/michaels…

@jeremycorbyn @alexsobel But is nuclear safe?

It's the *safest* way to make electricity

In fact, nuclear has *saved* 2M lives that would have been lost to air pollution, which shortens 7M lives each year

Even industrial wind turbines are more deadly

And we had a terrific meeting at 10 Downing Street!