"Nuclear costs too much, the costs are too uncertain and the reactors cannot be available in time" stated Tom Burke CBE at a key note lecture organised by the Environmental Law Foundation at the Law Society.

Mr Burke commented: "Much is made of the uncertainty caused by the regulatory and the planning system. These arguments are largely hand waving. The real barrier to investment in new nuclear build is the uncertainty about future electricity prices and the cost of actually constructing nuclear reactors."

"There are only two honest answers to the question how much does a nuclear power station cost. The first is I don't know'. The second is I'll tell you when I've built it'. Anything else is a guess."

"What about climate change? New nuclear build can do nothing worthwhile to help with climate change and would divert capital, and more importantly, scarce skills away from investments in the carbon neutral coal technologies, renewables and energy efficiency that will reduce our carbon footprint faster and more cheaply than new nuclear build. Even under the most favourable circumstances there is no possibility of any new nuclear electricity being available in Britain before 2020. As the government points out, we will have had to replace most of our nuclear and some of coal generating capacity before then. We will have to do that in a carbon neutral way to meet our emissions reductions targets. If we have the carbon neutral technologies to generate electricity before we can possibly have any new nuclear electricity, what do we need the nuclear for?"

Tom Burke, who has worked as a professional environmentalist for 30 years and is currently Senior Advisor to the Foreign Secretary's Special Representative on Climate Change, gave a critique of the UK government's recent commitment to newbuild nuclear power and commented: "New nuclear power in the UK has no part to play in keeping climate change within the bounds of the manageable."

The event was hosted by the Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) at the Law Society, Chancery Lane on 17 May as part of its series of annual lectures in honour of the well-respected scientist and ELF founder member, Professor David Hall. The Environmental Law Foundation is a charity founded in 1992, which helps people use the law to protect and improve their local environment and quality of life. Through its network of specialist lawyers and consultants across the UK, the organization provides free guidance and continuing support to those in need of assistance.