Can you answer this question about the nuclear power plant?

[Stella Richards]

Hi,

Which type of power:fossil fuel, alternate energies, or nuclear is safer and creates less pollution for society as a whole?

What are the issues associated with the disposal of nuclear waste from the nuclear plant?

Is the nuclear power plant a potential solution for global warming caused by fossil fuel?

[clivehinchcliffe]

Only energy that is renewable is a long term answer to our energy needs.

Oil, Gas and Coal all have a limited availability and will run out.

The same can be said for nuclear power the fuel for these power plants will run out.

We have a golden opportunity to provied renewable energy supplies that will serve our children and there children.

We have all seen what devastation can be caused by this form of power stations. We are human and no system is 100% fail-safe.

Nuclear power could be part of a short term solution to CO2 emissions but at a high cost of waste that is hanging around for 500 years. The cost of de-commissioning such power stations is not taken into account as the UK is finding out.

I can remember how we were told when I was a child that nuclear power would reduce the cost of electricity to be almost free!

Energy saving, lifestyle change and international power grids will mean renewables can meet all our energy requirements. we just need to want to do it.................

[raymiller]

Actually nuclear is pretty darn close to renewable. Using fuel reprocessing, as Areva does in France, for every 100 pounds of used nuclear fuel they can recycle it into 96 pounds of re-usable fuel, 1 pound of plutonium and only 3 pounds of waste that has to be stored.

If you want an unbiased review of nuclear power written by a true environmentalist read Gwenyth Cravens' book "The Power to Save the World".

I actually believe the right answer is to agressively research the results on cold fusion. It has been on the back burner since the Fleischman/Pons media circus in the early 1980's.

OR invest in an Apollo like program to harness high energy fusion.

wind and solar are useful but no solution to an industrialized civilization.
My 2 cents

[clivehinchcliffe]

Nuclear can never be the answer, even with 4% waste it will run out, only one meltdown will be an unmitigated failure to head the warning from the former USSR.

We must cut our energy requirements in all fields we must develop ways to store energy so that when there is no wind or sun or waves we can use the stored energy.

We can do this we just need to want to do it and not let companies with vested interests stop us.

If Nuclear is so good where is my free electricity?