Nuclear power is still unsafe and cannot help the UK meet its pollution targets. Here's the low-down on an energy a former Environment Minister says we need 'like a hole in the head'.
Expensive
Dangerous waste
Environmentally unfriendly
Security threat
Real alternatives
Expensive
Costs more than wind - In 2002 the Cabinet Office estimated that nuclear could cost over 40% more per kWh than on/off-shore wind.
Waste of money - Construction costs are large and unpredictable with delays causing greater losses. Windfarm costs are known, smaller and falling.
Hits taxpayers - Disposal of existing waste will cost around £56 billion. More reactors mean more waste, with no guarantee that costs won't be passed on to the public.
Dangerous waste
Highly radioactive - Nuclear waste can remain dangerous for tens of thousands of years.
Deadly inheritance - No one has yet demonstrated a safe way of disposing of it .
Accidents do happen - Leaks and near misses cannot be ruled out.
Environmentally unfriendly
Way off target - Doubling nuclear power would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at most eight per cent.
Not emission free - Mining and transporting uranium, building nuclear plants and storage of nuclear waste all produce carbon dioxide emissions.
Only electricity - It will not replace petrol and diesel - currently responsible for around 22 per cent of UK carbon emissions.
Security threat
Weapons - Uranium enrichment plants can be misused to make nuclear weapons.
Vulnerable - No nuclear reactor could withstand a direct hit from a jumbo jet.
Nowhere to hide - A successful attack could have an impact 40 times worse than the explosion at Chernobyl.
Real alternatives
No need for nuclear - The UK's vast renewable resources combined with simple energy-saving tactics provide a safer, cleaner and more sensible solution.
Secure supply - Renewable sources could generate more than half our current electricity needs by 2025.
Quick technology - All the major renewable technologies can be implemented within three years. We'd be waiting at least ten for nuclear.
Bright idea - A programme to phase out inefficient light bulbs could save a whole reactor's worth of electricity by 2020.
Forward thinking - We could save fifteen reactor's worth by investing in the potential of using waste heat to generate electricity.
Post a Comment