• Question: What's your opinion on nuclear power?

    Asked by sasha26 to Gill on 9 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Gill Menzies

      Gill Menzies answered on 9 Mar 2012:

      Emotive question!! Lots of people are likely to have strong opinions on this one. I’d have to say “not good” having watched a documentary on the inhabitants of Japan’s north east coast following the tsunami disaster last year. The nuclear plant explosions which followed may mean that the area affected may not be habitable for generations to come. Nuclear reactors are unrealiable in hot weather and climate change predictions show a global 2-4°C temperature rise by 2100.

Comments

  • Photo: laurenceharwood

    laurenceharwood commented on :

    In fact nuclear power is the safest form of energy generation we have when you look at how few accidents there have been – and the one which has the least carbon footprint. Its two big problems are that, if something goes wrong it is very very bad and the fact that each nuclear reactor when decommissioned leaves a legacy of highly radioactive waste which is with us for millions of years. My research has developed materials that can extract the radioactive materials selectively from this waste and make them into a form that can be used as fuel in the next generation of nuclear reactors and then be converted to non-radioactive materials so the waste problem looks like it is largely solved. The same materials can also be used for nuclear decontamination and we are now designing molecules to do jsu that in Fukushima.

  • Photo: Gill

    Gill commented on :

    Laurence – I agree – when there’s news about Nuclear energy it is usually BIG news and not good news. France generate nearly all their electricity from nuclear fission and with a very good safety record. The low Carbon electricity generation is a strong positive point, and the decontamination research is very encouraging.

  • Photo: laurenceharwood

    laurenceharwood commented on :

    Yep Gill! An amazing 75% of France’s energy comes form nuclear power. However I am also on board with Jack that fusion potentially gives us eve more unlimited power but, using today’s rescources and capabilities, if we can make nuclear fission clean, humanity is onto a winner. I think we can do this – I seriously hope so.

    C’mon you people out there – don’t let the host scientists have cosy little chats. Have a go at us!!

  • Photo: sasha26

    sasha26 commented on :

    So do you think Hinkley Point C should be built then? Seeing as how many people are protesting about it.