We the government fast track Nuclear power station thingy being approved, it looks like we could be recieving a number of new nuclear power stations over the next decade or so.

Friends of the Earth have naturally come out and said that this is bad for the planet, but is this method of power generation the most viable option available to the UK, assuming we never get the offshore wind farms really going.

The argument against nuclear power is obvious - it's dangerous (see: Chernobyl) and leaves behind vast amounts of nasty waste product.

But.......is it? Chernobyl was nasty, but it's been the only recorded case of a plant melting down in this manner - 3 Mile Island and the Windscale Fire are 'minor' in comparison.

And if there is lots of nuclear waste product being generated from existing power stations, wouldn't that mean a lot more fuss being made about it by FOTE?

Yes, more post apocolyptic style mutants please!

Leam seems to do quite well without the addition of a nuclear plant ;o)

Go for it!

And perhaps invest some money in trying to find something useful to do with the waste, like re-burn it or make some art out of it something?

Yes. It'll teach these people who don't want wind farms erected near their homes as they'll 'spoil the landscape and look ugly', a lesson. Let's see how they feel about it when one of these gets built at the end of their garden!

I'm guessing that if this was a realistic alternative and not a piss in the ocean, then there would be enough wind farms up and running to render nuclear power stations redundant.

I think the amounts of waste are quite small, but persistently nast for quite a long time.


I'm not sure whether we are being misdirected on this or not. The problem with wind and solar power is that people, given the right technology, can harness it for themselves so big companies make less money from them.

solar pannel on your roof to heat your hot water - costs (depending on boiler size) £300 - £1000 and will save you 50 - £100 a year, so is only a long term investment.

having a "windmill" attached to your roof, feeds power back into your house and slows the draw of electricity from the national grid, thus making your electricity bills cheaper every year - again only good long term to save money.

a combination of both could save you up to 50% on your electricity bill per year, maintenence costs are relativly low, but purchase price is quite high and wont do a great deal to help the environment unless a large number of people start using them.

nuclear power is a surprisingly efficient way of producing electricity and while the waste produced is dangerous and does remain that way for a long time, it is a lot safer than it used to be.

And the fact that solar panel salesmen are regularly on Watchdog for ripping off and misleading old women, I dont think they are going to pick up in popularity very soon.

local governments have started insiting that they are included on new build houses for council, it wont be long before they become a commor thing and the chancers are weeded out.

these don't work very well apparently at the moment, but surely a future version would.


if larger numbers of people started using them, then installation and manufacturing costs would also come down due to basic volume economics. I think there should be greater incentives for people to install these things in their homes.

sorry - hadn't read that far....on its way then.

Definitely. I'd be all for getting solar panels and 'windmills', but it's just far too expensive at the moment.

think of the added value it will give to your house as an overall resale value if that helps you justify it, potentially having such things fitted to a house when you buy it could increase its market value by as much as 15% depending on the energy efficiency it gives.

there is a whole market of people buying and selling houses after doing minimal renovation and painting the house magnolia that will soon be buying and selling after giving the house an energy efficiency overhall.

What exactly is the waste product of Nuclear Power and how bad is it and what does it do to our environment?

Ive always grown up thinking it was bad....but other than when things go disastrously wrong I have no idea!!

When I own my own place if I could afford solar panels I definately would do it....every little helps as they say :D

en.wikipedia.org

I guess it all depends on if they come up with a good solution for the waste then :D

Also try this...

en.wikipedia.org

section 4.2 of that link deals with waste disposal - none of it is ideal, hence the issue's with nuclear power.

dump it in scotland and wales.


or feed it to the dolphins