How we learned to stop worrying and love nuclear power
Until climate change hit the top of the agenda, the mere thought of nuclear power was enough to bring most environmentalists out in hives. But faced with the need to develop energy sources that are low carbon, reliable and plentiful, many leading greens have experienced 'road to Damascus' moments and come out in favour.
Today the government published a list of potential sites for new nuclear power stations in England and Wales (see map below) prior to a month-long public consultation. The sites themselves are mostly 'old news' - places where nuclear power stations already are or have been before. And for obvious reasons: they are already on the grid and the locals are either a) already used to them, or b) employed by them.
The government is heavily committed to nuclear and has made a 'deployment date' of 2025 at the latest one of the conditions of the nomination process. In fact, the whole thing is proceeding at spectacular pace, because a significant chunk of our existing stock of nuclear and coal-fired power stations are rapidly approaching their sell-by dates.
(Interesting to note that objections to nuclear power have long focused on mistrust of the technology, concerns about waste disposal and the fear of releasing silent, uncontrollable, deadly pollution into the atmosphere. Coal, by contrast, was dirty, but reliable, familiar, dependable and contained. And to think that for all this time we've had our eye on the wrong ball.)
To find out who nominated the sites and to have your say, visit the Department for Energy and Climate Change website 'Choosing sites for new nuclear power stations'.
BBC News map of nominated sites
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