Hinkley Point: 'Hard to meet targets without nuclear'

The government has announced details of a deal to build Britain's first new nuclear power station in a generation.

The site - at Hinkley Point in Somerset - will be developed by a consortium led by the French energy giant, EDF.

Critics have attacked plans to guarantee the company £92.50 for every megawatt hour of power - almost double the current market rate for the electricity which is generated.

Dieter Helm, professor of energy policy at Oxford University, told the Today programme's Sarah Montague that the government was right to concentrate on nuclear power.

"We are committed to decarbonisation targets and it's going to be extremely hard to meet those with wind farms and solar panels and biomass.

"If you compare this price with the costs of the other alternative low carbon technologies, it is right at the bottom end."

First broadcast on the Today programme on 21 October.