nuclear-news

Nuclear power’s secrets and lies to protect the industry from public scrutiny

Secrets, lies and why we need scrutiny of the nuclear industry The Guardian, David Byers, Founder director, Renewable Energy Association, ex-nuclear integrity scientist, 7 April 2011 “…..the essential truth. Civil nuclear power is shrouded in the UK not to protect facts from terrorists but because it has well understood risks and is captured under the Official Secrets Act. The economics, the legacy situation and the carbon cycle are hidden from the population. The Sellafield site is “privately managed” but publicly owned, its liabilities being passed like a parcel between successive “managers”, because of its toxic contents.
I am not anti-nuclear but pro-renewable energy. The scrutiny exacted upon renewable energy is absent when it comes to nuclear energy. My objection is not the nuclear option, it is the secrecy. This is a political and economic decision related to energy futures, security of supply and carbon. I find it mesmerising when journalists and politicians conspire to debate the issue, never telling the technical truth of the legacy, mostly because they don’t know.
I call for a public and independent assessment of our UK Sellafield complex. Risks and costs need to be explained to the population. If this technology is part of our future energy mix, take the lies and the secrecy away. Letters: Secrets, lies and why we need scrutiny of the nuclear industry | Environment | The Guardian

April 7, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general