In February 2003 the Government issued a White Paper reviewing energy policy. Diminishing indigenous natural supplies, the loss of the United Kingdom's nuclear energy generation capacity, with the exception of the Sizewell B nuclear power station, by 2020 and an increase in both local and global demand for energy are leading toward an energy crisis. The Government must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60% of their 1990 levels by 2050; this means the required additional energy capacity should not be achieved by burning further fossil fuels. Renewable sources of energy are not either sufficiently technologically advanced or economically viable to account for the approaching shortfall. New nuclear energy generation facilities could potentially generate the required energy without increasing greenhouse gas emissions. An innovative solution to create economically viable, value for money nuclear energy generation facilities is required. The Private Finance Initiative is a procurement model aimed at providing value for money and the efficient allocation of risk within a project. Through the use of an extensive literature review and two semi-structured interviews a theoretical model was developed and refined to show what stimulants and impediments exist in the application of the Private Finance Initiative to provide better value for money in nuclear energy generation. The main stimulants to the PFI and its use in nuclear energy generation are the ability of nuclear to provide affordable, reliable and secure, environmentally acceptable energy and with the use of PFI achieve those aims through competitive markets, thereby meeting the aims of the White Paper. The main impediments include current political uncertainty over licensing and approvals of new nuclear plants, uncertainty over waste policy and an overall uncertainty over the future of the industry itself.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:575032 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | Cadman, D. M. |
| Publisher | University of Salford |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://usir.salford.ac.uk/26602/ |
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