Premier Debate 2016 September/October ld brief

NEG—A2 Mining Aff

No Solvency-production bans increase enrichment processes-hawks want to hedge in the name of national security

Squassoni 13 [Sharon (2013) The limited national security implications of civilian nuclear decline, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 69:2, 22-33, DOI: 10.1177/0096340213477997] [Premier]

. Of course, one should not assume that US enrichment would wither away with US power reactors (just as the Urenco enrichment plant in Gronau, Germany, will keep producing, even though Germany is moving to zero nuclear power plants). But supporting continued US enrichment on the basis of national security, rather than on meeting demand, is a step onto a slippery slope; it could lead toward spending money on unneeded facilities.

NEG—A2 Phil

A2 Intent

Countries have at least three good reasons for nuke power

Pedraza 12

Jorge Morales Pedraza, consultant on international affairs, ambassador to the IAEA for 26 yrs, degree in math and economy sciences, former professor, Energy Science, Engineering and Technology : Nuclear Power: Current and Future Role in the World Electricity Generation : Current and Future Role in the World Electricity Generation, New York. [Premier]

Governments may have different reasons for considering the introduction of a nuclear power programme to achieve their national energy needs. These reasons could be: a) a lack of available indigenous energy resources; b) the desire to reduce dependence upon imported energy, particularly if the imported energy is done from unstable political regions; c) the need to increase the diversity of energy resources and/or the mitigation of carbon emission increases with the purpose to reduce the CO 2 emission to the atmosphere, among others.

NEG—A2 Polls/Democracy Aff

(Whole Res) UK PIC

Text: All Countries should prohibit the development of nuclear power except the United Kingdom.

The UK public support high-different from rest of Europe

IEA 15 ["Technology Roadmap: Nuclear Energy." IEA Technology Roadmaps (n.d.): n. pag. 2015. Web. 8 Aug. 2016] [Premier]

Although public acceptance of nuclear power is low in several OECD Europe countries, in others, such as in the United Kingdom, nuclear power is perceived as an important option for energy and electricity security as well as a key contributor to decarbonising the power sector. Europe’s nuclear industry is mature, has strong well-functioning regulatory systems, and significant R&D capacities with highly experienced and skilled staff. These advantages make the development of nuclear power particularly attractive for the region.

UK Politics DA

Insider political support for nuclear energy from nuclear lobby and conservative politicians in the UK

Lucas 12 [Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton Pavilion and a member of the cross-party parliamentary environment audit committee, “Why we must phase out nuclear power,” The Guardian, February 17, 2012, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/feb/17/phase-out-nuclear-power] [Premier]

In the UK, the government is determined to push ahead with the development of a new fleet of nuclear reactors, as the partnership announced by David Cameron and Nicholas Sarkozy shows. The orchestrated effort between coalition officials and the nuclear industry to create a pro-nuclear public information campaign in the days after Fukushima showed that not even a large-scale nuclear incident could halt ministers' obsession with new nuclear. Officials did not even wait for the results of the government's own safety review before rushing to assure the British people that a similar disaster is not possible in the UK. Now, the proposed electricity market reform is set to rig the energy market in favour of nuclear – with the introduction of a carbon price floor likely to result in huge windfall handouts of around £50m a year to existing nuclear generators. Despite persistent denials by ministers, this is clearly a subsidy by another name, making a mockery of the coalition pledge not to gift public money to this already established industry. The Energy Fair group is arguing that the cap on liabilities for nuclear accidents is technically a subsidy and therefore illegal under EU law – and is now taking the case to the European commission.

US Specific

Public support more nuclear power

Pedraza 12

Jorge Morales Pedraza, consultant on international affairs, ambassador to the IAEA for 26 yrs, degree in math and economy sciences, former professor, Energy Science, Engineering and Technology : Nuclear Power: Current and Future Role in the World Electricity Generation : Current and Future Role in the World Electricity Generation, New York. [Premier]

US public opinion supports the use of nuclear energy for the production of electricity and this support is continuing an upward trend during the last years. In 2005, a National Survey was carried out by Bisconti Researc h, Inc., in which 1 000 adult‘s age18 and older participated. As result of this survey, around 70% of the public has a position in favor of using nuclear energy for electricity generation in the country in the future. In addition, the survey found that 85% of the participants agree that the current nuclear power plant license should be renewal. According with the result of this survey, planning for the future has become a basic value in considerations about energy policy. Seventy seven percent agreed that electric companies should be prepared to build new nuclear power reactors, when needed in the future, and 71% would approve companies participating in federal site approval reviews for a possible construction of new units at nuclear power plant site nearest to where they live. Also, 69% said that if a new nuclear power reactor were needed to supply electricity, they would find it acceptable to add a new units at the nearest existing nuclear power plant. [142]