A motion has been submitted for debate by Liberal Democrat councillor Dr Mark Wright (Cabot ward) that notes the many problems that nuclear power presents and that none of the public consultations on the new reactors have come to Bristol even though Oldbury is just 8 miles from the city boundary.
The motion would commit the Council to opposing the building of new reactors, and calls for all future rounds of consultation to come to Bristol so that residents can have their say too.
"Nuclear power is hopelessly uneconomic once you factor in all the costs of decommissioning and radioactive waste disposal. No nuclear power plant has ever been built without considerable public subsidy and guarantee - without those, no company will touch it. If we are going to subside energy then we should develop the vast renewable resources we have here in the South-west instead," said Cllr Wright.
"Diverting our cash and attention to nuclear power will very likely cripple the fledgling renewable power industry. There will be no point in companies investing in developing technologies when multinationals are flooding the energy market with tax-payer subsidised power."
"Then there is the overlap between the technologies of nuclear weapons and nuclear-fission power, which allows countries to hide weapons programs inside civil power programs; the fact that nuclear power stations will arrive too late to fill a possible energy gap; the remaining uncertainties on health and safety issues; the lack of an agreed solution to nuclear waste - the list of problems goes on!"
Alan Pinder of Friends of the Earth said "This is really good news. There is growing anger about the nuclear proposals and the narrowness of the consultations. It is as if they were trying to keep it secret. There should have been exhibitions in Bristol about the proposals. These power stations will affect Bristol, so the City Council and people of Bristol should be closely involved at every stage."
Jim Duffy, Coordinator of Stop Hinkley said: "People from Bristol were very involved in the previous Hinkley C inquiry in 1988-89. It will be an important message if the City Council votes to oppose the new development. Being downwind from Hinkley and so close to Oldbury, Bristolians should not be excluded from deciding on something that could profoundly affect them."
Reg Illingworth of Shepperdine Against Nuclear Energy (SANE) a local group concerned at the development of a new nuclear power plant at Oldbury added, "This motion leads the way for Bristol to be a truly green city showing concern for the earth and its inhabitants."
The motion will be on the agenda at the Council meeting on 19th January.
Monday 21 December 2009
THE NUCLEAR DEBATE
Should we be debating whether to build new nuclear power stations or not?
The British Government, who want to push through nuclear new build as fast as possible, introduced something they called the “Justification Process” as part of the “Consultation Process.” What this means is that government advisors are debating the pros and cons of building new nuclear power stations i.e.: whether nuclear generation of electricity can be justified against any possible harm to the health of society.
Ever since the KiKK study produced incontrovertible evidence that childhood leukaemia has increased within a five kilometre radius of ALL German nuclear power stations, there can be no doubt that nuclear power is bad for human health.
How can our government propose that the sacrifice of a few babies and children is “justified” since we will produce so much electricity with nuclear power?
There are some things which are beyond debate. Some points of view that are beneath civilized society.
Of course our British government argues that although there is an increase in childhood leukaemia near to all German nuclear power stations, this just might be a coincidence, or it might be caused by “population mixing” i.e. by workers coming into these areas bringing viruses that cause cancer. No such viruses have ever been found and the German scientists who produced the KiKK study did not even consider the population mixing theory. Frankly they thought it was laughable.
Should we, the general public, even be entering into the consultation process, that is if we are aware that such a process is happening? Or should we be protesting as loudly as we can against this demon technology, that is harmful to human health, produces radioactive waste that will remain radioactive for thousands of years and that we do not know what to do with, that poses a terrorist threat, that is hugely expensive to build and relies on a fuel that will be exhausted within our lifetimes?
No, I say. No debate. Protest and Survive.
The British Government, who want to push through nuclear new build as fast as possible, introduced something they called the “Justification Process” as part of the “Consultation Process.” What this means is that government advisors are debating the pros and cons of building new nuclear power stations i.e.: whether nuclear generation of electricity can be justified against any possible harm to the health of society.
Ever since the KiKK study produced incontrovertible evidence that childhood leukaemia has increased within a five kilometre radius of ALL German nuclear power stations, there can be no doubt that nuclear power is bad for human health.
How can our government propose that the sacrifice of a few babies and children is “justified” since we will produce so much electricity with nuclear power?
There are some things which are beyond debate. Some points of view that are beneath civilized society.
Of course our British government argues that although there is an increase in childhood leukaemia near to all German nuclear power stations, this just might be a coincidence, or it might be caused by “population mixing” i.e. by workers coming into these areas bringing viruses that cause cancer. No such viruses have ever been found and the German scientists who produced the KiKK study did not even consider the population mixing theory. Frankly they thought it was laughable.
Should we, the general public, even be entering into the consultation process, that is if we are aware that such a process is happening? Or should we be protesting as loudly as we can against this demon technology, that is harmful to human health, produces radioactive waste that will remain radioactive for thousands of years and that we do not know what to do with, that poses a terrorist threat, that is hugely expensive to build and relies on a fuel that will be exhausted within our lifetimes?
No, I say. No debate. Protest and Survive.
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