UK situation develops

[DTI, 22 February, The Business, 21 February] The UK's energy white paper will probably be delayed until mid-April or May, although officals could publish it at the end of March before the government's Easter break. The delay results from the recent High Court ruling that the UK government’s 2006 consultation on energy policy was flawed, which necessitated another public consultation. Meanwhile, German companies RWE and Eon are reported to be about to make a deal with Westinghouse to work together on new UK nuclear power stations. Any new reactors would likely be pre-licensed standardised designs, deployed at already-licensed power generation sites, currently held by British Energy and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. Only after the white paper is published could work to pre-license designs begin.