So here is a summary of the energy strategy problem in 60 seconds!
We need to stop using gas, petrol, oil and coal as burning fossil fuels is causing global warming. It's also expensive and the supply is vulnerable to international events.
In order to achieve this we need to transition from petrol to electric vehicles and from gas and oil heating to electric heating.
This would mean we need to produce more electricity than currently (maybe 2-3 times as much).
A lot of this could be offset with energy saving measures and home insulation but even at the most optimistic estimates we need to produce a lot more electricity than now.
Renewables like wind and solar are the cheapest forms of energy and expanding the percentage of power produced from renewables reduces the cost significantly and increases energy security.
Wind and solar energy are however intermittent and we can’t guarantee energy production on any given day.
Nuclear power produces reliable energy without impacting global warming but it has a long build cycle, is very expensive and runs a safety risk as well as a long term waste issue.
Most commentators believe that other technologies like hydrogen or nuclear fusion are unlikely to have a significant impact in the medium term (20-30 years).
So far so good. From here on there are two main paths (though of course you can blend elements of both options):
Pro nuclear
This envisages expanding nuclear capacity to be the base load supply. Problem number one is that this will result in a very high cost of electricity. Nuclear isn’t an ideal partner for renewables as (unlike gas) it's not easy to flex the output day by day. If the base load is a high percentage of the total supply we will all pay a lot more for electricity. The other issues have already been mentioned: concerns about safety and waste management.
Anti nuclear
This view primarily envisages supplementing renewables with storage facilities or batteries i.e. anything to store renewable energy either on a large scale or local scale. Other areas often highlighted are reducing energy consumption, flexing the timing of energy use and trading renewables with other neighbouring countries. The real question comes down to whether we believe we could guarantee energy supply.
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