Why England Does Not Need Nuclear Power
England opened the world’s first commercial nuclear power station in 1956, and still has many old reactors that are being de-commissioned. Yet Austria (above) and New Zealand have no nuclear power at all, and no intention of ever having it.
Also read of better alternatives to replacing Trident.
Like Iceland, nearly all its energy is from renewable resources already, and it expressed concern over a planned nuclear plant in neighbouring Slovakia.
Austria (which looks similar to Switzerland) is believed by many people, to be the most beautiful country on earth. This alpine paradise is home to beautiful lakes, Europe’s tallest waterfall, the largest ice cave on earth, and mountain trains.
Yet despite being a mostly urban country (a good portion of people live in the capital city of Vienna, it’s also got some of the toughest laws on protecting the planet in the world.
England gets around 15% of power from nuclear). But in New Zealand, people see uranium as a dangerous radioactive material that could risk an accident or war. Nuclear is owned by ‘big energy’ to keep shareholders happy.
Our government has plans to build more nuclear power stations (including a small one on the beautiful wildlife island of Anglesey in North Wales), with an aim of providing around 25% of electricity using this dangerous, expensive and unnecessary form of power.
We can reduce bills and climate change, with walkable communities that promote farmers’ markets and independent shops (a huge amount of oil is used to power supermarkets and lorries to drive food to them). And insulating homes, so that they need less energy to heat.
Conservatives, Labour and Reform UK all support building more nuclear power plants, Lib Dems also do (thought not so many) and Greens don’t want any. If that sounds radical, know that a large number of countries abroad use no nuclear power, and have no intention of doing so:
Other European Countries with No Nuclear Power
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Greece
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Serbia
Other Countries with No Nuclear Power
- Australia
- Belize
- Cambodia
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Malaysia
- Nepal
- Peru
- Philippines
Nuclear Power is Not Safe
Nuclear plants cost billions of pounds to build, with 1.5% of them having had a meltdown accident. Uranium mining can cause lung cancer.
And nuclear waste remains radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years (residents near the islands in the Pacific that carried out nuclear testing almost 100 years ago, still have a higher cancer risk today).
Radioactive Bird Droppings from Sellafield
England’s largest and oldest nuclear plant (Sellafield in Cumbria) was built in the 1940s to make plutonium, in expectation of a cold war. Today, the process has begun to shut the plant down, which will take 100 years.
In the 50s, a fire sent radioactive waste to mainland Europe, and cows’ milk became radioactive. Today, droppings from swallows have found radioactive insects (these birds migrate to Africa, taking pollution with them). Local stray cats are screened for radioactivity, before rehoming.
Even people in Norway are concerned over radiation for their own food and wildlife, due to south-westerly winds possibly carrying radioactive particles across the North Sea, in the event of an accident.
