Two items just arrived together in my RSS feed from BBC News.
Brown expands nuclear vision
Apparently our beloved PM Gordon Brown is responding to the outcry about oil prices by announcing that the government will encourage the building of more nuclear power stations. (I’m not sure how the one follows from the other, but maybe I’m being slow today)
Nuclear clean up costs ‘to soar’
Decommissioning Britain’s old nuclear power stations is going to cost more than £70bn.
You couldn’t make it up.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
malc 05.28.08 at 10:56 pm
Nuclear power stations burn less oil and gas compared to oil and gas powered power stations. Also, unlike the current technology for greener types of power formation, nuclear works and you know what you will get. Did you know that the most efficient wind farm has only produced 70% of it’s expected output?? Or that the largest wind farm in the world (planned for somewhere off the coast of Scotland) will only be able to power a city the size of Glasgow?? Well, 70% of Glasgow at least!!! ;o)
£70Bn doesn’t surprise me. Most of these sites were built back in the 50’s and no-one gave any serious thought as to how to clear up these sites. As the article says, there are ponds with unrecorded amounts of waste dumped there 50 years ago!!
I mean, France produces nearly 80% of it’s electricity and of the seven most industrial countries in the world, which produces the least carbon dioxide…..???
ee 05.29.08 at 10:38 am
Actually, you neglected another even more contradictory nuclear headline yesterday: the government are intending to sell off their 35% stake in the company that builds and maintains power stations. Smart. Send out edicts to build lots of power stations, then surrender control over what gets built…
dh 05.29.08 at 7:29 pm
I’m with malc on this one. Also, what is the problem of selling the stations if they are regulated by the same government anyway? To me business are more efficient in getting electricity to their customers than the government and with much less buearocracy.