Why Nuclear Power is a Non-Response to Peak Oil - [View All]

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Now here's an interesting article..

Now, with peak oil breathing down politicians necks, nuclear power has one again emerged from its coffin with a faintly disturbing twinkle in its eye, some referring, messianically, to nuclear power’s ‘Second Coming’. Even a number of previously reliable environmentalists are starting to argue that nuclear power is an option again, some moved to say so by Lovelock’s recent gloom-fest book “The Revenge of Gaia”, which is alarmingly appearing in lots of places as somehow being the definitive argument for nuclear power. Over the next few days I want to sharpen up a fresh stake and see if we can’t finish off this evil monster once and for all.

FEASTA The best place to start is an excellent new briefing paper that has just been produced by FEASTA in Dublin, penned by David Fleming. I was in Dublin for its launch, which featured an excellent lecture by David, a feeble pro-nuclear response by John McGuirk from a right-wing think tank (surely an oxymoron there) called the Freedom Institute (I can almost smell the Margaret Thatcher posters from here…) and Green MEP Nuala Ahern. The paper, called “Why Nuclear Power Cannot Be A Major Energy Source”, sets out clearly what nuclear power is, and the reasons as to why it is not a response to peak oil. It can be downloaded from the FEASTA website for free, and it highly recommended.

Many of the points I will raise over the next few days are drawn from David’s analysis. The first argument, which I will explore tomorrow is that fact that any chance of a co-ordinated Powerdown response will effectively be scuppered once we commit to a new nuclear programme… clearly something of a ‘grave’ concern to Transition Culture regulars…. don’t miss that ‘tomb’morrow…

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