The new prospects of the UK energy policy

Thanks to a decade-long reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, the United Kingdom took a leading role in international negotiations on climatic change. But the government has recently been embarrassed to learn that emissions are once again climbing by nearly 5 % from 1999 to 2004 as nuclear power plants have been shut down and the reliance on coal has increased owing to the rising price of natural gas. When the white book on energy came out in 2003, the possibility of building new reactors seemed very far-off, at best. Following a reassessment of the country's energy policy by a report released in July 2006, the government has switched positions. It is now arguing that new nuclear plants would be economically profitable, and would reduce greenhouse gas emissions while increasing the security of the nation's energy supply. (author)