Waller condemns Blair's expected move to nuclear (York Liberal Democrats)

York Liberal Democrats <info@yorklibdems.org.uk>

Waller condemns Blair's expected move to nuclear

November 29, 2005 10:36 AM

Cllr Andrew Waller, City of York Council's Executive Member for Environment & Sustainability, today condemned Tony Blair's expected endorsement of new nuclear power stations because they would bring serious problems of nuclear waste disposal and a threat to human health, at a very high cost.

Cllr Andrew Waller (a Physics graduate) said "If the Prime Minister thinks that nuclear power is the answer, then he is clearly asking the wrong question. Britain must invest in renewable energy and energy conservation as a long term solution to the 'energy gap'."

"Other nations are leaving us behind by investing in cleaner, sustainable energy production. Nuclear power should not be a sticking plaster for his government's failure to reduce Carbon Dioxide emissions."

"The risks in terms of radioactive leaks, catastrophic failures like Chernobyl, and threats from terrorists should direct us away from this source of power. The safe disposal of nuclear waste that remains life-threatening for tens of thousands of years has not been overcome."

"A further weakness of the proposal is that the nuclear industry simply expects Government to pick up their liabilities, as even the market is worried about the problems nuclear creates. There is only a limited supply of uranium of the required quality, and then where will we be? "

"Nuclear is far from being a carbon-free source of energy once all the stages of construction, mining, processing of fuel, and disposal are taken into account. Nuclear power is also extremely expensive, both to build the plants and treat waste."