Motorists, Equity & Unity Party
Opinion Column Archives
No.24 - Nuclear Energy - Decision required urgently !
Wave and Wind power can only provide 20% of the nations energy requirements. With the present nuclear power stations nearing the end of their service lives we have 3 alternative means of generating the remaining 80% requirement for industrial and domestic supplies in the future.
*************1. Gas powered stations
*************2. Coal powered stations
*************3. A new generation of Nuclear Powered stations
The gas fields in the North Sea have a comparitively short life which means that the country will become dependent on importing gas from the continent meaning that we will eventually become totally depending upon supplies from Russia.
This dependence upon outside supplies will make us vulnerable to political pressures which are difficult to predict for the future and therefore not to be relied upon.
Coal powered stations bring back the spectre of coal mining again with it’s attendent pollution problems or more expensive means of reducing carbon emissions plus the attendent problem of delivering fuel supplies to the sites.
The nuclear option answers the problems of dependency on imports, transport, and carbon emissions. France has a considerable number of nuclear power stations and to date there has been no problems with the running of these units.
Unless the UK government make a firm decision in the very near future we are going to find ourselves without adequate electricity generation when the present units are decommissioned and, if opting for the alternatives, Gas or Coal (usually imported because of the cost of home production) we will become totally dependent on outside influences.
This situation would be unacceptable for a resource that is vital for the running of our nation. We cannot allow ourselves to be dependent upon supplies from Russia.
The problem of dealing with nuclear waste has still to be resolved by the present government and the sooner that this has been agreed the sooner that the waste can be safely housed. Common sense indicates that the site for nuclear waste is away from inhabited areas which would suggest either the highlands of Scotland or remote parts of Greenland if the authorities in that country considered this function as viable, thereby generating income to their exchequer.
************************************Secretary, M.E. & U. Party - 2nd May 2006
*************1. Gas powered stations
*************2. Coal powered stations
*************3. A new generation of Nuclear Powered stations
The gas fields in the North Sea have a comparitively short life which means that the country will become dependent on importing gas from the continent meaning that we will eventually become totally depending upon supplies from Russia.
This dependence upon outside supplies will make us vulnerable to political pressures which are difficult to predict for the future and therefore not to be relied upon.
Coal powered stations bring back the spectre of coal mining again with it’s attendent pollution problems or more expensive means of reducing carbon emissions plus the attendent problem of delivering fuel supplies to the sites.
The nuclear option answers the problems of dependency on imports, transport, and carbon emissions. France has a considerable number of nuclear power stations and to date there has been no problems with the running of these units.
Unless the UK government make a firm decision in the very near future we are going to find ourselves without adequate electricity generation when the present units are decommissioned and, if opting for the alternatives, Gas or Coal (usually imported because of the cost of home production) we will become totally dependent on outside influences.
This situation would be unacceptable for a resource that is vital for the running of our nation. We cannot allow ourselves to be dependent upon supplies from Russia.
The problem of dealing with nuclear waste has still to be resolved by the present government and the sooner that this has been agreed the sooner that the waste can be safely housed. Common sense indicates that the site for nuclear waste is away from inhabited areas which would suggest either the highlands of Scotland or remote parts of Greenland if the authorities in that country considered this function as viable, thereby generating income to their exchequer.
************************************Secretary, M.E. & U. Party -
www.me-and-u.org.uk