(7 October 2012, 15:10)Paul Wrote: (7 October 2012, 14:27)T-oddity Wrote: There is no reason for us to be without electricity, there are a vast array of ways that we can produce power, some more effective than others, I belive that the governments fixation with nuclear is more to do with maintaining a nuclear weapons capability than it is to meeting the coming short fall due to the closure of coal fired power stations. I find it interesting that there is a reluctance by government and big bussiness to explore the possibilities of using thorium as a nuclear power source even though it has the potential to be far safer.
Good Point T-oddity
Problem is the inherent fear of all things nuke.
Thorium to most = radioactive = blind fear.
Besides, would anyone in the government even know what Thorium was?
They'd probably reach for a map book to look up where it was!
I was looking at Wiki's list of power stations in the UK.
Approximately they generate
nuke generates 7.150 GW
coal generates 21.360 GW
gas generates 13. 150 GW
Oil generates 4.300 GW
Hydro generates 3-5 MW not really significant.
Total 36GW of power (ish)
7 GW of coal power to be lost by 2015 thanks to the EU.
Not good.
Paul, I'm with you on this.
Nuclear power does indeed have risks, but they are manageable risks.
UK no longer has energy independence, we are obliged to import power and therein lies a far greater risk to National security (and this the personal wellbeing of each and every citizen)
Wind power, wave power, solar, blah, blah, blah.... given time and investment, they may work, but right now they make only a small % contribution to our energy needs.
We need energy independence to keep the wheels on the UK wagon. Without it economic conditions will continue to decline as the energy providers leverage greater and greater prices from us.
Radioactive contamination is all around us already. My thing is radio and I know that for UK government radio testing steel chambers are constructed to completely block out radio noise ( and radioactive particles give of radio noise as they decay).....nowhere on earth can new steel be sourced for this purpose that is completely free from radioactive contaminants. The steel used is salvaged armor plate from warships sunk in 1919 (Scapa Flow) well before the very first nuclear detonations.
So, worldwide populations are already exposed to the nasty bi-products of Nuclear. The society of Japan has more to fear than most and live to this day on the very sites of the most horrible explosions. Nuclear power is in place around the globe and any accidents will have global consequences as we cannot control which way the wind blows, can we?
UK needs energy, reliable and constant energy, and it needs it now. Only with energy security will we be able to climb out of the mess we are in.
Nuclear delivers the needed energy and does so with manageable risk.
This difficult decision needs to be made and acted on straight away, for once the lights go out the opportunity will be extinguished with them.
Search
Calendar
Help
