Government warned to detail nuclear investment soon

Civil engineers have called for the government to make the financial commitment to new nuclear power plants clearer, to avoid funding inequalities with other projects.

Civil engineers have called for the government to make the financial commitment to new nuclear power plants clearer, to avoid funding inequalities with other projects.

Citing the east-west London rail link service, Crossrail, as one contender for public money the civil engineers warned the government that it needed to be more specific about the funding, after it released information stating that nuclear development would be based on 'exclusionary' and 'discretionary' criteria.

The government will need to outline a full forward-spending plan in order to instil confidence in contractors looking to work with the nuclear programme, said CECA director Rosemary Beales.

"The [construction] sector has the capacity to deliver but with the announcement that Crossrail is to go ahead from 2010, the industry will need a much clearer forward spending programme for investment in new nuclear power that sets out exactly what the spending profile will be in order to best plan to meet demand," she said.

Currently the government is hoping for construction to begin at 2013-14, with power generation to begin as early as 2017-20.

Siting criteria will be finished by 2009 then, using the exclusionary and discretionary criteria.

Exclusionary criteria refers to factors that make building a power plant unfeasible, such as a site's proximity to large populations.

Discretionary criteria however, include factors such as flood risks and environmental protection.