On 10th June 2025, the UK government committed £14 billion of taxpayers’ money over the next 4 years to the Sizewell C Nuclear Power Plant in Suffolk. This will not help the Climate Crisis.
Just like an avalanche triggered by a thawing slope reaching its tipping point, the climate crisis is nearing irreversible tipping points – melting ice caps, Amazon deforestation, coral reef blanching, ocean current reversal, etc. As the crisis progresses, catastrophic declines in global security could lead to nuclear war, although this claim needs to be investigated further.
However, as effects of climate change become more extreme, security will become more imperilled. For terrestrial conditions to regain sustainability, greenhouse gas emissions must be severely reduced.
The nuclear industry is lobbying hard for a ‘new build’ of ‘clean’ and ‘safe’ powerplants as a major contribution to the phasing-out of fossil fuels. The military and civil nuclear industries are closely linked, and the Ukraine war has shown the danger of military targeting nuclear power plants (NPP). Furthermore, the full nuclear ‘cycle’ – from mining to waste management – has unique, long-term and serious risks, not least to health.
The UK has achieved a degree of ‘decarbonisation’ but has a long way to go. It could still, however, remove fossil fuel dependency without recourse to nuclear power.
In 2023, the UK was supplied with approximately 2,775 terrawatt-hours (TWh) of energy. Yet only 1,457 TWh were actually used domestically. Of the rest, 800 TWh was exported or used as ‘bunker fuel’ (heavy oils for ocean-going ships), 200 TWh were lost through transmission, and another 200 TWh when turbines generated electricity.
Government figures of supply and use of energy (in TWh) for 2023 show the following (DENZ) Digest of UK Energy Statistics; Table 1.1 – figures rounded to nearest decimal place)
| Supply | Transformed to electricity etc | Industry | Transport | Domestic | Services | ||
| Gas | 878 | 230 | 87 | 1 | 237 | 89 | |
| Oil | 1393 | 5 | 25 | 568 | 24 | 40 | |
| Coal | 45 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Bio | 222 | 120 | 23 | 31 | 15 | 17 | |
| Electricity | 228 | 86 | 11 | 93 | 79 | 268 | |
| Total | 2775 | 370* | 236 | 610 | 375 | 230** | |
| 1457 | |||||||
| Gas | Coal | Oil | Nuclear | Renewables* | Bio | Import | Losses | |
| To generate | 230 | 15 | 5 | 101 | 102 | 120 | ||
| Generated | 90 | 5 | 2 | 41 | 102 | 44 | 34 | 50 |
| Total electricity supplied | 268 |
According to the Digest of UK Energy Statistics, the gap between 268 TWh of current electricity production and the national use of 1,457 TWh (let alone the 2,775 of all energies supplied) may seem insurmountable. This blog shows that with advanced technologies, a realistic and much lower target is quite feasible.
Reducing fossil fuel usage would be most effective in transport and domestic heating. Were all internal combustion engines (ICE) replaced by EVs, 118 TWh of electricity would be needed instead of 445 TWh for the same amount of travel. Domestic energy usage would fall by replacing gas boilers with heat pumps, as every kWh of electricity used is as effective as 3 to 4 kWh of gas used by gas boilers – on household usage alone, up to 800 TWh of energy could be saved.
Altogether, 600 TWh might suffice for the whole UK if industrial usage were more efficient, although inevitable developments are likely to increase demand – such as desalination with advanced methods. Recent claims that AI data centres demand vast amounts of electricity may be unduly alarmist.
According to Business Solutions, by 2050, 600 TWh of electricity could supply all the UK’s annual energy needs from a combination of 40 TWh from gas, 80 from nuclear, 420 from renewables (including bio) and 30 from other sources such as tidal. The UK Nuclear Consultants Group have shown, however, that as well as being so expensive as to increase energy prices for all UK users, the nuclear component is not needed (details available on request). David Toke proposes ways which, by 2050, could supply 1350 TWh of electricity entirely from renewables.
Another cause for concern is the water demand of NPPs which exceeds all other forms of electricity generation, even from coal fired plants. This is problematic in arid conditions, sometimes forcing partial or even complete shutdowns. Whereas the construction and maintenance (cleaning) of solar panels does require water, improved designs can alleviate such problems. Wind turbines have a negligible water demand.
However, there are considerable challenges, including the undesirable aspects of mining for ‘rare earths’, the complete redesigning and maintenance of heat pump systems for buildings, adapting the national grid, providing multiple electricity charging points for EVs, accepting landscape and sea-scape changes, etc., and extra security and maintenance requirements. Heat pumps where feasible cost much less when the electricity to power them comes from renewables.
Developing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is another challenge: in 2024 jet fuel made up about 7% of global oil demand. Although SAF supplies are increasing, they are nowhere near keeping up. However a recent report from MIT describes a novel and promising prototype of a sodium-metal fuel cell which could point the way to replace fossil fuels in regional aviation, short-distance shipping, and long-term battery storage.
Lord Browne, former Chair of BP and a co-founder and Chairman of Beyond Net Zero, has made a strong case for a radical reform of the UK Electricity pricing system which is maintained at a high price by depending on a value set at peak demand periods when the supply depends on gas turbines. This masks the much cheaper renewable sources of electricity putting them at a significant disadvantage.
In summary, even though the regrettable passage of time has made it more difficult to develop sustainable energy, the UK could achieve this by 2050 without nuclear sources, thereby setting standards and helping the cause of global sustainability, health and peace. Nuclear is not an aid to security. It is also very expensive, even were it to provide only 20% of the power the UK needs, electricity prices will soar for the taxpayer and consumer. A 100% renewable/geothermal option is the best way forward for the UK and the world.
