18th June 2007

Letter to SNJ responding to claims that nuclear is the answer and that 'No to Plastic Bags' is not helpful. Read Dave Cockcroft's letter:

Martin Ecclestone is quite right to point out that much more needs to be done if we are to really make an impact on slowing or reversing climate change. However his enthusisatic support for nuclear power more questionable.

It should be noted that power stations, nuclear or otherwise, are not built by government but by the private sector. There is no government ban on building nuclear power stations at present but the private sector chooses not to do so since the costs are too high, timescales too long and profit insufficient.

The assertion that the safety of new nuclear plants is unquestionable is clearly nonsense. The whole history of nuclear power in this country is plagued with radioactive leaks, incidents and cover up, most as a result of human error. No matter how brilliant the design of new nuclear power plants they are highly complex systems and will always be subject to failure, to one degree or another, due to human error.

When nuclear power stations are run by private companies, then the primary motive is profit and not safety. We need look no further than our local nuclear power station, the ancient Oldbury Magnox reactor, to see this in action. After being closed for safety reasons Oldbury was restarted this May for purely financial reasons, even though it's quite clear the safety risk is unacceptable as the reactor core is structurally weakened with age. Despite another closure following a fire shortly after the reopening it seems the plant will once again reopen before long. This is playing roulette with public safety as a serious accident could make this region uninhabitable for generations to come.

The UK's current generation of nuclear reactors is so plagued with faults that it is several years since it generated anything like 20% of our electricity supply. The electricity generated by nuclear power in the country today accounts for only 5% of our total energy use, including transport and heating.

Is nuclear power really worth the risks it poses in order to avoid less than 5% of our CO2 emissions? Surely not, when efficiency measures and energy saving could easily cut several times this amount in shorter time scales and at a fraction of the cost.

Which perhaps brings us back to plastic bags. Whilst the impact of reduced plastic bag use on CO2 emissions might be negligable it is a very useful awareness raising exercise. Everything we do has impact and implications. We live in a moment of history where our impact on the planet can no longer be ignored, whether it's the climate changing effects of CO2 pollution or the life changing impact of peak oil. Thinking through the act of using and abusing plastic bags is one way to learn to take more responsibility for our individual actions and to live more lightly on the planet. Not just an end in itself but a first step on a new path.

Yours Respectfully
Cllr Dave Cockcroft (Stroud Town Council)