|
The Irish Times, Monday, October 20, 2008
Nuclear power in the wind again
Madam, - In his astute article on attitudes to nuclear power, John Gibbons mentions the influence of Adi Roche on Irish opinions in recent years (Opinion Analysis, October 16th).
Ms Roche and her supporters have done tremendous humanitarian work helping the handicapped and orphaned children of Belarus. However, there is an assumption that their suffering is a direct result of the Chernobyl accident of 1986.
The authoritative WHO Chernobyl Forum Report states that there were no birth defects attributable to the accident.
It is worth looking to some environmentally conscious Scandinavian countries for up-to-date opinions on nuclear power. Sweden voted in 1980 to phase out nuclear power by 2010. But it has not done so and continues to get 50 per cent of its electricity from this source. A survey in June showed 82 per cent of the population favoured nuclear power.
Finland, with a similar population to Ireland, has four nuclear reactors and, after serious public consultation, is building a very large fifth one. Interestingly, it is also building a deep repository for the radioactive waste.
We in Ireland continue to bury our heads in the sand and think that wind energy will be the answer to all our problems. It certainly has a role to play, but will not provide the necessary constant base-load electricity. Please let us consider nuclear power as a matter of urgency. - Yours, etc,
PHILIP W. WALTON, Moycullen, Co Galway.
|
