Windfarms will never be a substitute for proper power stations simply because the wind is unpredictable. Periods of extreme cold also often coincide with there being little or no wind so wind generation is unavailable when most needed. For the same capacity nuclear stations are also cheaper than offshore windfarms.

Whatever the cost the money has to be found; all but one of our current nuclear stations will have to close within the next decade and some of the larger coal burners will have to shut under EU rules in 2014. If we don't start building some serious new capacity soon the lights are going to go out over much of the country.

Siemens also built all of Germany's nuclear power stations.

That's (one of) the problems with wind. The power that the turbine can extract from the wind varies by wind speed cubed which gives a comparitively narrow useful envelope of wind speed. High wind speeds put massive stresses on the structure and the gearbox-meaning that a large turbine on the west coast of Scotland will struggle to meet its designlife of 25 years. Most PWRs have a 40 year licence with a view to extending to 60 years.