Energy: Nuclear power 'part of the solution'

Keith Parker, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, writes for ePolitix.com on the importance of nuclear energy.

The UK needs a secure and reliable supply of clean, low-carbon energy. Our homes, businesses, schools and hospitals must be able to rely on a stable flow of power, and we must ensure that we generate that power in an environmentally sustainable way.

Nuclear energy provides low carbon base-load generation, delivering electricity to the UK grid 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and reduces our increasing dependence on imported energy.

What's more, nuclear energy is fundamentally low-carbon. Its full lifecycle emissions are on a par with wind generation. It is making a substantial contribution to tackling global climate change and is not damaging the air we breathe.

Nuclear – alongside renewables, energy efficiency and fossil fuels with carbon capture – must remain at the heart of the UK's energy mix. Nuclear is part of the solution.