Nuclear

The 20th anniversary of Chernobyl is a useful warning against nuclear power in these days of increasingly gung ho attitudes towards the atomic(both energy and weapons).

To focus on the disaster as a reason to avoid nuclear power is a trap however that will just draw us into endless discussion about their reactors and our reactors, and lax Soviet safety measures - and generally just keep the debate in the quagmire.

The reasoning against nuclear power stand even without Chernobyl of Three Mile Island. All the energy and carbon release involved in mining and processing the fuel, building the power station, decomissioning the power station and looking after the waste for centuries.

In the UK there is currently estimated to be 470,000 cubic metres of radioactive waste for which at present no clear option exists (including 2,000 cubic metres of "high level waste", 4,300 cubic metres of Plutonium and 75,000 cubic metres of Uranium). It seems that "deep burial" is still the favoured waste solution, and obviously not everyone is convinced.