31 May 2011

Why Britain should Follow Germany in Ending Nuclear Power

Germany's announcement yesterday to close Nuclear reactors was met with a literal cheer in my house yesterday.

One of the greatest acheivements in the UK Coalition was the proposal the government would no longer fund Nuclear power.

The dangers of the plants are in peoples' minds with the Fukushima crisis in Japan. People with slightly longer memories will recognise the threats Sellarfield and Dungeoness created in the last thirty years.

There is significant strategic advantage in Germany's announcement too. If they are proposing to embrace renewable energy, as the first major country to do so, they will have the biggest share of this market going forward. Any nation who does not follow suit will be left on the edge of a potentially huge economic development.

Commencing such a plan in the UK would not only provide us with a manufacturing industry which we can gain financially from, but also provide jobs and development for the 3million unemployed across the country.

However, I imagine the government will show significant reluctance in the face of existing nuclear power company pressure.


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6 comments:

  1. Kelly, Oh for heaven's sake, please no more of this hogwash that the future of energy provision lies in wind and or renewable power.

    Where exactly is your proof that renewables are the way to go? Germany may well corner the market in renewable technology and by the time they do, pound to a penny they will have egg on their face! Just look at MW production vs cost of producing and there is no contest.

    Exactly how many of this 3million unemployed you mention have any expertise in designing, building and maintaining wind farms for example, hence the number of jobs it would provide for those 3million are negligable.

    Go read Christopher Booker Kelly, you might learn something......?

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  2. In comparison, the 3 mil unemployed are likely to have no skills in nuclear energy either, so this will not aid the economy in the UK.

    I would suggest renewable energy is a hell of a lot more efficient, and safer, than nuclear power.

    I also wish I had your time, David, to rant all day :)

    Shall we agree to disagree, arch-nemisis?

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  3. @curious: We already have sufficient of those that understand nuclear power, so next ineffective point?

    Renewable may, rpt may be safer, but it sure as hell at the moment is not as efficient on a cost vs energy produced basis.

    As to how I spend my time, all down to effective planning and organisation - try it!

    So no, I am not prepared to agree to disagree!

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  4. No one has been able to demonstrate that renewables will provide our energy needs. The reason for this is obvious -they can't.

    It's also deeply depressing to see people still using Fukushima as a excuse not to choose Nuclear as part of a portfolio of power options. These plants were/are old and sit on a fault line.

    Lights start going out in 2015. Time to make a decision. If you think renewables will solve the countries energy problems and the government agree then I will buy a generator now and buy shares in candle makers.

    SimonG_1

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  5. We made up lots of jobs once before, for white collar workers and now we are over run with HSE and big brother. There is no point in making up useless jobs. Germany will just buy its power from neighbours. Probably Poland. It will never be economic to use renewable energy as it costs too much energy to produce the gadgets to run it. If you want to employ people then give them spades and get them digging fibre in. If we all had decent internet access we could lead the world and the digital economy could boom.
    chris

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  6. This is the key paragraph:

    'There is significant strategic advantage in Germany's announcement too. If they are proposing to embrace renewable energy, as the first major country to do so, they will have the biggest share of this market going forward.'

    The planet needs us to embrace renewable energies but the economy needs us to exploit what will be the biggest sector for growth in manufacturing in the 21st century.

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