Didn’t watch the programme and unlike some contributors I have no claim of expertise so I can’t pay my tuppence worth – here’s my ha’penny worth: In many senses nuclear energy is clean. It does not produce gaseous emissions such as greenhouse gases, which are harmful either to the population or to the environment. It is true that it does produce radioactive waste. Since this is in solid form it can be dealt with much more easily and stored away from centres of population. The damage caused to the environment and populations due to the burning of fossil fuels is far in excess of the damage done to the environment due to the nuclear industry including even the Chernobyl catastrophe. In this sense nuclear energy is very much preferable to the burning of fossil fuels at the moment. Furthermore, as new technology becomes available to allow the more efficient use of nuclear fuel, less nuclear waste will be produced. (A recent example is the development of the fast breeder reactor, which uses fuel much more efficiently.) However, this trend will only continue with investment. I’m guessing, that by the  pace of development of nuclear technology since its inception, it is fair to say that with more investment, nuclear energy will become an even more desirable source of energy with many of its current drawbacks curtailed. Besides, there are no REAL (i.e. truly viable) alternatives: 1. Hydroelectric power - creates more problems than it solves. Building a large dam floods an enormous region behind the dam which in turn can displace tens of thousands of people. There are also enormous ecological costs to dam building. A classical example is the Aswan dam in Egypt along the Nile. Not only did many thousands loose their homes but the yearly inundation of the Nile, which fertilised the surrounding land for thousands of year, was also stopped. The subsequent silting up of the river destroyed much wildlife. A similar story of ecological destruction and human homelessness surrounded the more recent Three Gorges dam project in China. 2. Solar energy has never lived up to expectations since it is hugely inefficient. A solar panel the size of Europe would be needed to power a city the size of London! 3. Wind energy is only marginally better with an unsightly wind farm the size of London needed to provide the energy for London alone. 4. Geothermal and tidal energy which have been hopelessly inefficient because no rocks have been found that are hot enough and no waves have been found that are strong enough! IMHO - There is NO CHOICE.

Entire Thread

Topic	Date Posted	Posted By
DoW: Should we go nuclear?	09/01/05 19:26:00	Jeff Gear
Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	09/01/05 23:56:00	Richard Jennings
Re:Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	10/01/05 01:29:00	Peter John
Market forces?	10/01/05 17:46:00	Jeff Gear
Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	10/01/05 04:09:00	Jim Lawes
Re:Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	10/01/05 13:26:00	Stewart Dean
It's very simple:	10/01/05 14:34:00	Colin Murphy
Re:It's very simple:	10/01/05 15:22:00	Stewart Dean
I agree.	10/01/05 10:04:00	Colin Murphy
Let's mix it	10/01/05 11:17:00	Malcolm Peltu
Re:Let's mix it	10/01/05 13:33:00	Jono Miller
Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	10/01/05 18:14:00	Jonathan Bingham
Re:Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	10/01/05 19:22:00	David Fox
Re:Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	10/01/05 20:38:00	Jeff Gear
Re:Re:Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	10/01/05 21:42:00	Jonathan Bingham
Re:Re:Re:Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	11/01/05 09:22:00	Jeff Gear
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	11/01/05 10:07:00	Jonathan Bingham
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	11/01/05 15:16:00	Jeff Gear
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	11/01/05 15:30:00	Asha Winterflood
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	11/01/05 17:33:00	Jonathan Bingham
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	12/01/05 22:35:00	Dominic Corp
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	15/01/05 18:23:00	David Fox
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	17/01/05 09:15:00	Dominic Corp
Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	16/01/05 16:39:00	Jeff Gear
Re:Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	16/01/05 18:46:00	Peter John
Re:Re:Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	17/01/05 09:51:00	Jeff Gear
Re:Re:Re:Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	17/01/05 10:03:00	Colin Murphy
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	17/01/05 13:22:00	Jim Lawes
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	17/01/05 13:38:00	Asha Winterflood
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:DoW: Should we go nuclear?	18/01/05 14:25:00	Jim Lawes

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