This week Children's Express reporter Seamus McDermott has plenty to say over the growing debate over nuclear power.
The issue of Nuclear Power has been widely covered in the media recently with the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, Iran's nuclear ambitions and the big decisions facing the Government on the future of nuclear power in Britain.
What's all the fuss about, I hear you say? The biggest problem with nuclear power is storage of waste. The current generation of nuclear reactors in the UK produce waste which is hard to permanently store and which will remain radioactive for centuries, and there is currently no way of disposing of it safely.
Another major fear in people's minds is that of terrorist attacks. What if the nuclear fuel intended for a power station or nuclear waste fell into the wrong hands? It could be used to launch an attack on a major city. Of course the other issue that people have with nuclear is accidents, like the one that happened at Chernobyl in the Soviet Union in 1986, the effects of which are still being felt by millions of people.
So with all the problems and risks involved, why is nuclear even being considered as a source of energy for the future? It's all to do with trying to meet future energy needs while still meeting emissions targets. The problem is that with half the nuclear power plants in the UK due to close by 2010 and the rest due to be shut down over the next 20 years, the government needs to find a way to fill the gap left by today's nuclear reactors.
Current estimates suggest that renewable sources wouldn't be able to meet the demand. Building fossil fuel fired power stations would make it impossible for the UK to meet its Kyoto targets, which only leaves the option of building new nuclear reactors. Current developments mean that next generation nuclear reactors would be more efficient generating more power while at the same time producing less toxic waste. The question is do we really want more nuclear power stations?
Decisions need to be made soon, but in my opinion nuclear is not the way forward. The risks involved with nuclear are too great. With the problem of the disposal of nuclear waste still unresolved nuclear is not an option. Do we really want to be creating this waste that will lie around for centuries and have to be dealt with by future generations? Cleaner renewable sources such as wind and hydroelectric should be greatly expanded instead of putting up nuclear power plants.
About the team
This story was produced by Seamus McDermott and edited by Rebecca Burns. It was published by Reach for the Sky website.
