4th July 2007

Letter one - to The Gazette:

Nuclear is a safe bet now (Gazette letters7/06/07). It’s not safe, it is a managed risk. Confidence in those who manage that risk is dubious when considering some of the incidents that have occurred and continue to occur and are often not reported. These include unnoticed leaks of radioactive acid for nine months at Sellafield and the falsifying of safety records by BNFL.

Oldbury our nearest active power station has not run as smoothly throughout its life, as was suggested. Reactor two was closed down for close to two years over safety concerns. It was only recently restarted to run for just six more months, despite continuing concerns over the safety of the reactor core. 

Predicting and dealing with risk is done so under economic and political pressure. How will these factors play under an economic downturn and/or an energy starved economy in the future?  There remain 355 Welsh farms still subject to emergency orders an unpleasant reminder from the Chernobyl experience. 

Successive governments have failed to address the energy crisis, (as they have with transport, prison populations and future migration issues to name a few) if they had then nuclear would not now be a serious option.  New nuclear is unlikely to produce electricity till near 2021 and its lower carbon footprint relies on high grade uranium being available. Even at current rates of use, the industry’s own figures for known resources show they will not last out this century.

Nuclear was ruled out in the earlier energy white paper and only reinstated after a dodgy consultation that was shown to be inadequate when later challenged in court.

Clive Phillips, Bowcott (pictured above)

Letter two - to The Citizen: 

Brian Hughes suggests it is foolish to rule out the nuclear option (21/06/07). He claims nuclear has a good safety record and that we need nuclear to ensure energy supplies and tackle climate change. The evidence doesn't support him. When the Government’s own Sustainable Development Commission looked at whether new nuclear power stations should be built they considered the alternatives and concluded unanimously there was no justification for new reactors.

In the UK nuclear provides less than 20% of electricity, but only 5 to 8% of total energy. We cannot wait until close to 2021 for new nuclear energy. The government's own Performance and Innovation Unit warned that supporting nuclear could set back better, smaller-scale alternatives which could turn every home and business into a climate-friendly power station. At best nuclear would make only a minimal contribution to climate change: a rethink of aviation policy would be a far more effective.

The nuclear industry in this country has a catalogue of failures. Heres just a few: at Sellafield 20 tonnes of highly radioactive acid leaked unnoticed for 9 months, BNFL has been found guilty of systematically falsifying safety records and there is repeated evidence of cancer  clusters around nuclear plants. This week at the Dounreay nuclear site, staff found plutonium in a manhole. Recent revelations in the national press regarding the risks being taken at Oldbury also do nothing to inspire confidence.

New research has shown that the costs of nuclear have been potentially underestimated by nearly a factor of three. The Government's plan to expand nuclear power fails on economic, energy and environmental grounds.

Clive Phillips (Green Party)
Bowcott