Nuclear claims welcomed

Wednesday 08 March 2006

power plant Green campaigners have welcomed this week’s report from the Sustainable Development Commission which cast doubt over the economic, practical and environmental viability of a new nuclear energy programme in the UK. The study, in response to the Government’s public consultation on the country’s energy requirements, found that issues such as radioactive waste disposal and the volatile economic stability of the industry could undermine any potential benefits that the programme could deliver.

The views detailed in the Commission’s report echo those voiced by various environmental groups, particularly in recent months following the reemergence of nuclear as a viable large-scale candidate for tackling the carbon emissions issue.

“Today’s report makes it that much harder for the Government to sanction any new nuclear power stations in the UK – they are dirty, dangerous, expensive and unpopular, both with the public and even with the Government’s own advisors,” commented Green Party Euro-MP Caroline Lucas. “This report is based on a careful analysis of the costs and benefits of nuclear power – and it finds, simply, that the costs and dangers outweigh the benefits.”

"This rational and dispassionate review of the pros and cons of nuclear power rightly concludes that the disadvantages outweigh the benefits,” said Tony Juniper, Director of Friends of the Earth. “Tony Blair and his Government must now seize the historic opportunity presented by the energy review to set the UK on course to becoming a world leader in developing a low-carbon, nuclear free economy."

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