Greens warn against nuclear future
Wednesday 23 November 2005
Environmental groups have warned the government
against backing a revised nuclear power programme, following indications
from Prime Minister Tony Blair that Britain was ready to support the
creation of new developments. At yesterday’s discussion with the Common’s
Liaison Committee, Mr. Blair said that the upcoming decisions on energy
would be ‘difficult and controversial’.
“With some of the issues to do with climate change, and you can see it with
the debate about nuclear power, there are going to be difficult and
controversial decisions government has got to take. And in the end it has
got to do what it believes to be right in the long-term interests of the
country,'' said the PM.
Environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth called the proposals an
economic ‘white elephant’, while the Green Party of England and Wales
described them as ‘deplorable’, questioning the safety of energy source.
“Tony Blair seems intent on taking the dirty and dangerous route that is
nuclear power. This is a deplorable move,” commented Green Party Principal
Speaker Keith Taylor. “Britain has been generating radioactive waste for
over 50 years, yet no progress has been made on how to dispose of it.
Current strategies for dealing with waste are unreliable, unsafe and
ruinously expensive.”
"The Government must invest in cleaner and safer alternatives to nuclear
power, not waste yet more money on nuclear white elephants,” said Friends of
the Earth's director, Tony Juniper. “Ministers should champion renewable
energy and energy efficiency as the means to achieve a low carbon economy
while at the same time creating jobs and export opportunities."
Nuclear energy is seen by some as a lower carbon solution to both rising
emissions and a possible energy supply crisis, but also carries serious
concerns over waste and costs.
"Nuclear power is not the answer to tackling climate change. It is expensive
and leaves a legacy of deadly nuclear waste that remains dangerous for tens
of thousands of years. UK tax-payers are already committed to a bill of more
than £50 billion to clean up the nuclear mess we have already created.
Adding to that cost would be financial madness, and divert resources that
would be better spent on energy efficiency and renewables," added Juniper.
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