South Down MP Margaret Ritchie (SDLP) has welcomed the National Audit Office investigation into the guaranteed strike price that has been set for the new nuclear energy programme.
Ms Ritchie said:xa0“I was very disappointed that the European Commission gave the green light for the UK’s new nuclear energy programme but I am pleased that the NAO will hold this up to further scrutiny.
“The strike price of £92 a megawatt hour that the energy company has been guaranteed is double the current cost of electricity. This represents an enormous taxpayer subsidy for the nuclear industry and comes at the cost of supporting safe, truly green energy alternatives. Consumers will be paying billions of pounds to EDF in order to finance a dangerous and uneconomic source of energy. I sincerely hope that the NAO will find that this subsidy does not offer the taxpayer value for money and that there is still hope of stopping this venture in its tracks.
“People in Ireland will have to live in the shadow of these plants and the constant threat to public safety. As Sellafield shows the public subsidy and safety concerns lasts for decades after the plants’ stop producing energy while they are being decommissioned,” added Ms Ritchie.
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