The government's strategy for dealing with nuclear waste was labeled a "shambles" today, ahead of an expected White Paper tomorrow.

Ben Ayliffe, head of Greenpeace's nuclear campaign, said:

"Nuclear waste is a financial and geological nightmare. These proposals do not provide a plausible solution for our existing legacy waste, let alone the waste from new reactors, which will be at least three times more radioactive.

"This White Paper is not about finding a solution for nuclear waste. It's about bribing a community with £1bn of taxpayers' money to bury waste in their back garden. But there's no guarantee a willing community will come forward or that they'll be able to find a geologically suitable site anywhere in this country.

"The government cannot press on with its plans for new nuclear power when its strategy for dealing with radioactive waste is such a shambles."

• The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the body in charge of dealing with the UK's radioactive waste, admitted recently that the costs of cleaning up existing nuclear waste, estimated to already be £73bn, were likely to spiral by billions. When pressed on how much it might increase an NDA spokesman claimed "I'm sure it'll be some billions, I really don't know." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7421879.stm

• In May, the UK's "world class" reactor at Sizewell B shut down unexpectedly, causing massive black outs across the UK. (http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/...)

• At the same time, British Energy, the UK's biggest nuclear operator, announced that its annual profits had slumped by a third. BE blamed falling electricity prices and unplanned reactor shutdowns. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?...)

• This week British Energy turned down a £10bn takeover bid from EdF, saying that its bid "does not represent value for shareholders." BE added that talks were ongoing, but that "there can be no certainty that any of the discussions will lead to an offer being made for the company". (http://www.british-energy.com/article.php?article=243)

• The French Nuclear Safety Authority has now ordered all construction work to stop on the site of the supposedly state-of-the-art European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) in Flamanville, Normandy, because of on-going safety problems. The EPR is the reactor design that the Government is keen to see built here in the UK. (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c2873968-2c4f-11dd-9861...l)

• A new report in the USA suggests that construction costs for new nuclear reactors have more than doubled since 2000, meaning that nuclear is becoming more expensive more quickly than any other form of energy (http://online.wsj.com/article/...). Elsewhere, Florida Light and Power have estimated the cost of building 1 new reactor would be a staggering $12bn. (http://a4nr.org/library/economics/may.june-energybiz)

Greenpeace press office: 020 7865 8255.

Reacting to Gordon Brown's comments that the UK needs to increase its nuclear power capacity, Robin Oakley, head of Greenpeace's climate and energy campaign, said:

"This looks like nothing more than a clumsy attempt by Brown to talk up British Energy's share price. The nuclear industry has had a woeful 24 hours that must be shaking confidence in this outdated technology.

"Sizewell B shut down unexpectedly, clean-up costs are soaring and the reactor that France want to sell us has had construction halted for safety reasons.

"And, unless Brown is about to appoint an alchemist to the cabinet, nuclear power will do nothing to address any concerns over oil."

ENDS

Greenpeace press office: 020 7865 8255

The French nuclear safety agency, ASN, has ordered construction to be suspended on the new nuclear reactor being built in France - the same model that would most likely be built in the UK. (1)

Flamanville's construction in northern France has run into the same kinds of problems plaguing the ongoing construction of the only other European Pressurised Reactor (EPR), Olkiluoto 3, in Finland.

The move by ASN follows the agency's discovery of chronic problems affecting the quality of construction work since building work commenced on Flamanville 3 in December 2007.

ASN's call to halt construction follows a series of letters from the agency to Flamanville's construction manager. In the letters, ASN inspectors highlighted a range of problems including non-conformities in the pinning of the steel framework of the concrete base slab, incorrectly positioned reinforcements, and inadequacy of technical inspections by both the construction companies and Electricité de France (EDF).

Inspectors also uncovered inconsistencies between the blueprint for reinforcement work and the plan for its practical implementation. (2) The incorrect composition of concrete had been used, that may lead to cracks and rapid deterioration. Samples of concrete were also not collected properly, according to ASN. (3)

Cracks have already been observed at part of the base slab beneath the reactor building. The supplier of the steel containment liner reportedly lacks the necessary qualifications. Fabrication of the liner was continuing despite quality failures demonstrating the lack of competence of the supplier. As a result, one-quarter of the welds of the steel liner of the reactor containment building were deficient. (4)

Ben Ayliffe, head of Greenpeace's nuclear campaign, said: "The only two EPRs being built today are construction fiascos. The one in Finland is years behind schedule and billions over budget and only six months into the project in France building work has come screeching to a halt.

"This reactor design is fast becoming a by-word for incompetence, massive delays, spiralling costs and dodgy engineering. We only have a limited time and budget to stave off the most catastrophic effects of climate change and we should stop pouring money down the nuclear black hole."

Olkiluoto has been under construction for three years but has been blighted ever since the concrete was poured. Poor quality concrete, bad welds on the containment liner and low-quality reactor components are among its problems. The schedule for completion has been put back by more than two years and costs have nearly doubled to over 5 billion euros.

ENDS

Greenpeace press office: 020 7865 8255

Notes:

(1) Mr Smith from the local division of ASN interviewed by French channel 3 this lunchtime, also quoted in the French local paper Ouest-France: "Le coulage du béton de l'EPR suspendu - Suite à une injonction de l'ASN (Autorité de sûreté nucléaire) qui a constaté une nouvelle anomalie dans le ferraillage de l'îlot qui supportera le future réacteur nucléaire, EDF vient de suspendre le coulage du béton. Le chantier est donc interrompu pour correction et vérification."

(2) ASN letter, 12 March 2008.

(3) ASN letter, 25 January 2008.

(4) ASN letter, 19 February 2008.

The parties involved in the expected takeover of British Energy have "little interest in tackling climate change or protecting British taxpayers", said environmentalists today.

Nathan Argent, nuclear campaigner for Greenpeace, said:

"The expected French Government bid to takeover of British Energy will come with huge financial costs, a tiny reduction in carbon emissions and continued confusion over who pays for the clean up of radioactive waste.

"Energy bosses admit that replacing the UK's existing reactors will cost about £60 billion - twice the amount the Government estimated only months ago. Even the Government has said that this will only reduce carbon emissions by around four per cent."

Such an investment should instead be used to enable the UK to reach legally binding renewable energy targets, environmentalists say.

"And there's still an enormous question mark over dealing with spent nuclear fuel produced by the reactors that the French hope to buy. Since the beginning of 2005, the UK Government has been legally committed to dealing with all the spent nuclear fuel on these sites, and this commitment will continue even when the sites are sold. So, the British taxpayer will be financing the clean-up of French owned nuclear sites in the UK.

"It's worryingly obvious that anyone involved in this dodgy deal - and that includes the Government - has little interest in tackling climate change or protecting British taxpayers."

For more information, contact the Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255.