WWF-UK: Nuclear is too little, too late and too dangerous
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Nuclear is too little, too late and too dangerous
Tuesday 29 November 2005
In announcing the start of a new Energy Review today, only two years after the last comprehensive review that prioritised energy efficiency and renewable energy against nuclear power, Tony Blair has signalled that he has already decided to go for the nuclear option.
The Prime Minister has failed to deliver on his promises to seriously tackle climate change. Nuclear power is not the answer - even if we were to embrace the nuclear option, it would not be able to reduce emissions quickly enough to prevent dangerous climate change.
Nuclear power remains dangerous and expensive. There is still no safe way to dispose of nuclear waste, which will last for thousands of years, and today we also have the added threat of terrorism and nuclear proliferation. Added to this, the £56bn nuclear decommissioning bill makes nuclear the wrong option for the UK to pursue.
"The UK Government had a comprehensive Energy Review in 2003 which concluded that the big gains were to be made through energy efficiency and renewable energy. The only possible reason to re-open this debate so early is that the Government has already decided that they want to build new nuclear reactors," said Andrew Lee, Director of Campaigns for WWF, said:
"Nuclear power is too expensive and too dangerous. Wasting billions on more nuclear reactors would distract from the real task of developing renewables and reducing energy demand. Nuclear power is the ultimate unsustainable form of energy - for a little energy now, we would be condemning 10,000 generations to deal with the radioactive waste we would produce.
"Putting aside the £56 billion nuclear decommissioning bill, the terrorist threat, the weapons proliferation danger, the radioactive discharges or the radioactive waste mountain, nuclear power can't reduce greenhouse gas emissions quickly enough. If this Government is serious about tackling climate change it should invest its time and money into renewables and energy efficiency and acknowledge that nuclear power is an expensive and dangerous distraction."
Commenting on today's announcement by the Prime Minister of a new Energy Review, Director of WWF Scotland Dr Richard Dixon said:
"Scotland has more potential for renewable energy than anywhere else in Europe, we would have to be insane to ignore that and go back to nuclear power. Not only would we miss out on the jobs bonanza that investment in clean energy technologies could bring for Scotland, but we would also face the likelihood of seeing new nuclear installations and waste dumps on our doorstep."
"Labour in Scotland must confirm their opposition to new nuclear and speak up in favour of more renewables and energy efficiency. New reactors imposed from Westminster would be an amazing gift to the other parties for the 2007 Scottish election campaign."
Nuclear power remains dangerous and expensive. There is still no safe way to dispose of nuclear waste, which will last for thousands of years, and today we also have the added threat of terrorism and nuclear proliferation. Added to this, the £56bn nuclear decommissioning bill makes nuclear the wrong option for the UK to pursue.
"The UK Government had a comprehensive Energy Review in 2003 which concluded that the big gains were to be made through energy efficiency and renewable energy. The only possible reason to re-open this debate so early is that the Government has already decided that they want to build new nuclear reactors," said Andrew Lee, Director of Campaigns for WWF, said:
"Nuclear power is too expensive and too dangerous. Wasting billions on more nuclear reactors would distract from the real task of developing renewables and reducing energy demand. Nuclear power is the ultimate unsustainable form of energy - for a little energy now, we would be condemning 10,000 generations to deal with the radioactive waste we would produce.
"Putting aside the £56 billion nuclear decommissioning bill, the terrorist threat, the weapons proliferation danger, the radioactive discharges or the radioactive waste mountain, nuclear power can't reduce greenhouse gas emissions quickly enough. If this Government is serious about tackling climate change it should invest its time and money into renewables and energy efficiency and acknowledge that nuclear power is an expensive and dangerous distraction."
Commenting on today's announcement by the Prime Minister of a new Energy Review, Director of WWF Scotland Dr Richard Dixon said:
"Scotland has more potential for renewable energy than anywhere else in Europe, we would have to be insane to ignore that and go back to nuclear power. Not only would we miss out on the jobs bonanza that investment in clean energy technologies could bring for Scotland, but we would also face the likelihood of seeing new nuclear installations and waste dumps on our doorstep."
"Labour in Scotland must confirm their opposition to new nuclear and speak up in favour of more renewables and energy efficiency. New reactors imposed from Westminster would be an amazing gift to the other parties for the 2007 Scottish election campaign."
For more information on WWF's UK Climate Change! Campaign visit our Climate Change website.
WWF Scotland is part of Stop Climate Chaos, an alliance of development, conservation and civil society groups aiming for tougher action to reduce emissions.