The UK's nuclear power industry has been through challenging times over the past few decades. Public attitudes and the recent emphasis on renewable energy sources have taken their toll on the sector, and there has been a flight of skills from nuclear power to adjacent industries such as aerospace, defence and utilities. In 2006, UK nuclear plants generated 19% of UK electricity compared with 36% from gas and 38% from coal. In 2007 this dropped to 15% (57.5TWh) and in 2008 it dropped further to 19.2TWh for the six months to 28 September. There are now 19 UK reactors totalling 11 GWe capacity. In addition, about 3% of UK electricity demand is met by imports of nuclear power from France.
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