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Most Britons prefer alternatives to nuclear energy
02/08/2004
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One of the most recent tensions in the very sensitive and often-fragile relationship between Iran and Britain has been the nuclear issue. This has been to an extent that the issue now overshadows the overall ties between the two countries. The burden of proof has been laboured upon Iran by a number of Western governments including Britain. Other incidents have interrupted the process of further developing constructive relations and dialogue, however “the nuclear issue is infinitely more important” (Lord Temple Morris in his July Interview with British Persian Media).
Therefore, British Persian Media as a news organisation that deals exclusively with British-Iranian relations, is determined to play a role in clarifying the issues at hand for both countries through the provision of information and interaction between British and Iranian media. Hopefully the result could ease the current tension.
British Persian Media’s coverage of the Nuclear Energy Conference at the Dana Centre in London is part of a series of interviews and reports on the nuclear issue.
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A conference on the nuclear energy was held at the Dana Centre in London, last Tuesday, to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of promoting and further developing Nuclear Energy in Britain.
Pete Wilkinson of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management, Ann McCall, Head of safety for Nirex and William Gelletly, Professor of Physics at the University of Surrey were among the speakers in the conference panel.
The conference was attended by people from a variety of backgrounds and served as a good representation of the general public from which a wide range of opinions and arguments about nuclear energy arose.
In a poll carried out in this conference 55 percent of the audience said no to further development of nuclear energy as the main source of energy in the UK, expressing concerns about the storage of nuclear wastes.
30 percent of the attendants believed that the nuclear energy is an inevitable source but they still had their concerns.
The poll found only 14 percent of the audience in support of the nuclear energy.
Following the results of this poll, Professor Gelletly referred to the general consensus that the nuclear issue is stigmatised by its association with weapons and that the role of nuclear energy should involve the public more directly.
Mayer Hillman author of ‘how we can save the planet?’ who was also among the audience, raised the issue of whether the rate of fuel consumption is already a problem.
Any radical changes in the provision of energy in Britain and throughout most of the world, is tied to the short-term policy of governments seeking to keep the voters happy and re-election.
Despite the many disagreements and criticisms put forward by the public, the British Government seems firm in its plans to further develop nuclear energy.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair addressed a Liaison Committee last month where he said the door would need to be kept open to build more nuclear power plants if Britain was to secure a sufficient energy supply and meet its Kyoto climate change commitments.
Dana Centre
The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management
NIREX
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