David Hansen wrote:
On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:21:45 GMT someone who may be "The Medway
Handyman" wrote this:-

http://www.independent.co.uk/environ...e-1629327.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-the-bnp-1631292.html

"Nuclear power is not the answer

"We write to express concern over the unqualified portrayal of
nuclear new build as a sustainable solution to climate change
("Nuclear power? Yes, please", 23 February). Significant issues
remain to be addressed, let alone resolved. These include
uncertainty about nuclear fuel supply and manufacture, vulnerability
to attack, security and proliferation, radioactive waste management,
radiation risk and health effects, reactor safety and
decommissioning

"Even if financing new nuclear build were competitive in these
cash-strapped times, it is not possible to build enough nuclear
power stations to make a significant impact on the amount of coal
that will be burnt world-wide. China, with the most ambitious
nuclear programme, would achieve at most 6 per cent of its
electricity from nuclear. If Britain embarked on a full-scale
nuclear rebuild programme, the Government's own figures conclude
that this would mitigate only 4 per cent of our CO2 emissions.
Nuclear power is an expensive, inflexible option, soaking up money
and slowing development of more sustainable solutions to climate
change.

"Offshore wind, waves, tides, biomass and photovoltaics collectively
offer the potential to harness enormous energy resources.
Electricity, hydrogen or fluid biofuels all offer radically
different secondary energy carriers for mobility, heat or mechanical
power. Each of these options can be harnessed in various forms and
permutations.

"The concerns that nuclear is expected to meet are real. But nuclear
power does not offer the best means to deal with them. If the UK
were to pursue new nuclear power now, it would load extra costs on
to the British people and continue to divert attention and resources
away from more effective measures. At this turning point in the
evolution of our energy systems, this is the dilemma in which we
find ourselves.

"Professor Andy Blowers, Open University

"Professor Tom Burke, Visiting Professor at Imperial and University
Colleges

"Dr Paul Dorfman, University of Warwick

"Professor David Elliott, Open University

"Professor Andy Stirling, University of Sussex

"Professor Stephen Thomas, University of Greenwich

"Professor Gordon Walker, Lancaster University

"On behalf of the Nuclear Consultation Group"



No doubt they are all professors of media studies, theoology, and knitting..