You can always rely on Bob Geldof, him of Live Aid fame, to say something really stupid. His latest foot-in-the-mouth ‘wisdom pearl’ appeared on a Lexus-sponsored blog about hybrid cars in which Geldof advocates the use of nuclear power. He must have become chummy with the people from the nuclear lobby in the UK, which is very strong.
While nuclear power may be carbon neutral at the point of generation, the extraction of uranium is not. Besides the reserves of uranium will not last much longer than a few decades so it’s only a temporary solution. To make matters worse, there is the tricky issue of disposal. So folks, just forget it, nuclear power is not an option and it’s a shame that Geldof, whose public image is of a humanitarian, comes forward to endorse this type of energy. But then, he’s not well-known for being profound and while you may get European frustrated-rocker politicians drooling over him, anyone with some discerning ability can see through the inconsistencies in Geldof’s public persona.
On a different note: those of you thinking about going shopping after the Christmas holiday, beware of these shops, which are selling real fur although they claim they don’t.
I’m highly skeptical of a total denial of nuclear power. I agree that it has its problems but we, America at least, has been operating on power plants built and designed in the 1970 or early 80’s. These old plants produce a larger amount of nuclear waste per generated power. Newer designs boast that they would produce 1% of the waste that current designs do. To say that nuclear power is not an option is naive. I am for alternative energy but I cannot ignore the current power requirements of today. Even If I were to try and convert my home to solar energy a 3000 watt system on sale costs $16,999. This sound good but it doesn’t take into account that 1. 3000 watts would only run a few things 2. This doesn’t include the hidden cost of Inverter and battery maintenance. I work in the telecom business I know how much replacement batteries cost and how unreliable they are especially their longevity. 3. I will point back to number 2 in that the average home owner would be hard pressed to maintain one of these systems without burning his house down. 4. I live in the south where a desert cooler is out of the question so I and stuck with either some kind of fossil fuel generator or an even larger solar system if I plan to cool my house in the summer. I’m open to alternative energy I just think it hasn’t progressed far enough yet. If only we had had the wisdom to take action after the Arab oil embargo we might have reached energy independence by now or at least be 30 years closer.
It seems to be an urban myth that we have only a few decades of uranium left. It simply is not true. Theres enough for at least 100 years. Furthermore, 98% of nuclear waste is useful energy that future reactors will burn, leaving a fraction of the waste, with only 400 year radioactivity. Coal plants produce more radioactive waste in their ash and admit more natural radiation to the atmosphere than nuclear – and kill 3 million people worldwide every year through pollution – and emit freely to the atmosphere (unlike nuclear waste, which has been safely stored over decades) a volume of carbon dioxide that, if solidified, would be a mountain one mile high and 12 miles in diameter (vs. a sixteen meter square volume of nuclear waste, for the same energy production). Because uranium is a million times more dense energy source than coal, mining it is far less polluting. A modern coal plant uses a full trainload of coal every 18 hours- leaving mountains, ecosystems, and lives destroyed. By the way, consider the thousands of dead coal miners every year. Please get your facts straight.
Thanks for your comment, I appreaciate your views.