Nuclear power

THE bad: Over the past weeks there have been grave concerns that, due to lack of supply capability, there may be power blackouts.

This was inevitable given the too-rapid move away from fossil fuels to reliance on wind and solar power.

Investment has been drained from the sure and steady coal-fired generating units and redirected to less reliable or untested options.

In this era of climate debate and weather uncertainty, the craziness of this world has dictated that we rely on changing weather for our ever increasing demands for energy.

The good: From many avenues there is now a reconsideration of the use of nuclear power generation.

During the 1950’s–1960’s nuclear fission was considered by many to be the power source for the future.

One kilogram of uranium can produce as much power as about 2500 tonnes of good coal, without any the emissions (except water vapor).

However, nuclear fission produced radio active by-products and, unfortunately, several international accidents enticed the ‘green movement’ to boycott what is essentially the World’s most environmentally friendly source of ‘unlimited power’.

While no-one can deny the danger of some highly radioactive by-products of nuclear fission, there is no reason at all why these by-products cannot, and are not, being reprocessed.

We note that the splitting of the atom was achieved before the invention of the computer, and what major advances in science have we had since then?

The more that a technology is used, the greater the resources put into it, and the more useful and cheaper it becomes. While the initial ‘start up’ cost of nuclear is much greater, over the life of the project the cost of power generation and hence costs to the consumer is much reduced.

Unless nuclear technology is adapted for power generation, we will soon find that thousands of wind towers and solar panels will indeed become a blight on our environment. A number of communities are already petitioning to have them banned from their regions.

Harold Gallasch, Hahndorf