Greens warn against nuclear future

Environmental groups have warned the government against backing a revised nuclear power programme, following indications from Prime Minister Tony Blair that Britain was ready to support the creation of new developments. At yesterday’s discussion with the Common’s Liaison Committee, Mr. Blair said that the upcoming decisions on energy would be ‘difficult and controversial’.

“With some of the issues to do with climate change, and you can see it with the debate about nuclear power, there are going to be difficult and controversial decisions government has got to take. And in the end it has got to do what it believes to be right in the long-term interests of the country,'' said the PM.

Environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth called the proposals an economic ‘white elephant’, while the Green Party of England and Wales described them as ‘deplorable’, questioning the safety of energy source.

“Tony Blair seems intent on taking the dirty and dangerous route that is nuclear power. This is a deplorable move,” commented Green Party Principal Speaker Keith Taylor. “Britain has been generating radioactive waste for over 50 years, yet no progress has been made on how to dispose of it. Current strategies for dealing with waste are unreliable, unsafe and ruinously expensive.”

"The Government must invest in cleaner and safer alternatives to nuclear power, not waste yet more money on nuclear white elephants,” said Friends of the Earth's director, Tony Juniper. “Ministers should champion renewable energy and energy efficiency as the means to achieve a low carbon economy while at the same time creating jobs and export opportunities."

Nuclear energy is seen by some as a lower carbon solution to both rising emissions and a possible energy supply crisis, but also carries serious concerns over waste and costs.

"Nuclear power is not the answer to tackling climate change. It is expensive and leaves a legacy of deadly nuclear waste that remains dangerous for tens of thousands of years. UK tax-payers are already committed to a bill of more than £50 billion to clean up the nuclear mess we have already created. Adding to that cost would be financial madness, and divert resources that would be better spent on energy efficiency and renewables," added Juniper.