A £1bn nuclear white elephant (UK)

[jpak]

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/a-1631bn-nuclear-white-elephant-1664427.html

A controversial nuclear recycling plant, approved by the Government despite warnings over its economic viability and reliance on unproven technology, has racked up costs of more than £1bn and is still not working properly.

Backers of the plant at Sellafield, which promised to turn toxic waste into a useable fuel that could be sold worldwide, had claimed the plant would make a profit of more than £200m in its lifetime, producing 120 tonnes of recycled fuel a year. But after an investigation by The Independent, the Government admitted technical problems and a dearth in orders has meant it has produced just 6.3 tonnes of fuel since opening in 2001.

With construction and commissioning costs of more than £600m, the facility, known as the Mox plant because of the mixed oxides (Mox) fuel it is designed to produce, has cost more than £1.2bn, confirming its status as the nuclear industry's most embarrassing white elephant and one of the greatest failures in British industrial history, losing the taxpayer £90m a year. Green campaigners and opposition MPs are now calling for the plant to be closed immediately, and a minister who fought its construction at the time has called for a public inquiry into how the plant was ever given the go-ahead.

The revelations are a blow to the Government as it plans to lead Britain into a "nuclear renaissance", pinning its hopes on nuclear technology to help meet its ambitious targets on reducing carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said the performance of the plant was "clearly disappointing".

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[BeFree]

1. So

Are they gonna have a fire sale, or what? I could use a few ounces of nasty nuke stuff to give as a going away present for my nasty neighbor that I used to live next door too. Hey, I'm not so stupid as to want any of that crap near me.

[spag68]

2. Mox plant

The British are pikers, look up Shoreham on Long Island. The costs so far are 8.5B and counting, without one watt of electricity going into the grid. We here are still paying for it.