10-10-05
The country needs a "major culture change" in the way energy is produced and
consumed instead of opting for new nuclear power stations, the Green Party
warns. Nuclear power is expensive and dangerous and say the Greens, who also
claim it won't solve the problem of reducing greenhouse gas emissions enough to
meet the UK's obligations.
The Party's fears are contained in a detailed report to the Commons
Environmental Audit Committee.
Green Party co-principal speaker, Euro MP Caroline Lucas, said: "We face two
enormous challenges: global warming and the dangers inherent in the UK's
continuing reliance on oil, the supply of which is vulnerable in political and
military terms.”
"Now is the time for an environmental leadership that sees these circumstances
as an opportunity for a sea change to sustainable local and renewable low carbon
energy systems that do not leave a hazardous legacy for future generations.
Fossil fuels are not the only thing in short supply, so is cash. The
astronomical costs of a new nuclear power programme would divert money away from
creating a low carbon economy, the real solution to global warming."
The Greens' submission to the MPs' review of the UK's future energy supply,
entitled "Keeping the lights on," argues that nuclear power is prohibitively
expensive -- after Government subsidies have been taken into account.
The costs associated with commissioning, operating and decommissioning each new
nuclear power plant may top £ 100 bn says the report. The Greens say nuclear
power stations could threaten the UK's health and future security.
Routine discharges from nuclear power plants increase the risk of cancers and
leukaemia among nearby residents and the weapons grade plutonium created as a
by-product of nuclear power generation risks increasing nuclear weapons
proliferation and creates a deadly target for terrorists.
Source: The Scotsman