Nuclear is too much of a security risk

Such concerns echo many points raised by Dr Stuart Parkinson, of Scientists for Global Responsibility, in a recent university lecture (notes available at www.sgr.org.uk).

Domestic nuclear power programmes provide a basis from which low-grade nuclear military programmes can be developed with relative ease. With humanity facing an uncertain future and multiple crises – climate change, population explosion, deterioration of water and food security, peak oil, etc – the increased occurrence of international resource conflicts unfortunately appears likely.

In such circumstances, is it sensible to proliferate and encourage nuclear technology? And, therefore, should we not be leading by example and making a more serious commitment to develop renewable solutions?

Nuclear research is sucking in vast quantities of government and corporate funding that could be channelled into the development of renewables. This seems highly questionable. Nuclear may be low carbon, but dealing with waste and decommissioning leads to economic (and potentially ecological) catastrophe. The UK has already learnt the economic lessons the hard way.

Nuclear is not sustainable, in the sense that it relies on the exploitation of a finite resource. One of the talking heads in A Crude Awakening, the 2006 film documentary on oil supplies, claimed that if the world met energy demands currently provided for by oil with nuclear power instead, worldwide uranium resources would be depleted within a decade.

Taking a long-term view, it seems clear that humanity will have to meet its energy demands using only renewable energy sources sooner or later. In my view, the sooner those in power start behaving in a way that respects this basic truth, the better.

Tom Bennett, student member