Going nuclear

As Chernobyl’s 1986 radioactive cloud has gradually vanished from the public eye, nuclear energy is firmly back on the political agenda. Industry advocates and politicians, the world over, present the nuclear option as a kind of magic mushroom, which at once will help decrease the ever rising fuel bills and reduce greenhouse emissions. If only it were that simple … Despite its problematic nuclear past, Britain is among the frontrunners in the world’s drive for an atomic future. The Labor government has given the green light for the construction of an additional 15 nuclear power plants. “It would be for the private sector to initiate, fund, construct and operate new nuclear plants, and cover the costs of decommissioning and their full share of long term waste management costs,” stated Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer, Alistair Darling. Britain is by no means alone in its nuclear desires. The US, the world’s