Nuclear Power, No Thanks?

There's a head of steam (if you'll pardon the pun) building up in favour of nuclear power. Global warming has breathed new life into the campaign to persuade us that the nuclear option is essential.

Two things we should still keep in mind. Firstly the dangers inherent in nuclear power - and the on-going discussion of the long-term effect of Chrnobyl is a salutory reminder of this.

The second is the recent report about the £70billion cost of decommissioning nuclear power stations in the UK.

I certainly don't subscribe to the notion that we need to massively cut back on energy consumption - if we want prosperity and peace in the world we need more power not less. But that doesn't mean we should ignore the dangers of nuclear energy. There are plenty of other technologies to be developed - from fuel cells to bio-diesel to ethanol.

That old slogan of 'Nuclear Power, No Thanks', well, it might need dusting off. Though this time it's likely that there'll be plenty of 'ecologists' on the pro-nuclear side of the argument.