As regular readers of this blog will know I've helped compile several Green party's submissions to the recent Government consultations on nuclear waste. Today The Citizen ran a front page story (see left) of it's Stroud edition: "Massive Nuclear Store Planned" about the proposed nuclear waste store at Berkeley near Dursley.
It is interesting that one of the journalists I spoke to in Gloucester thought as a Green I would be against the proposal. Infact Greens support it. We are in a mess with all this nuclear waste - we just shouldn't be producing it in the first place. The map below shows all the other places we store nuclear waste in this country. Here is my comment to the papers:
"Regrettably an intermediate level nuclear waste store is the least worst option, but it must not take waste from elsewhere and it must be properly water proof as sea-level rises are forecast. "However clearly the best way to begin dealing with this hugely costly nuclear waste is to stop producing it. It is crazy the Government are planning new nuclear reactors that produce even more of the higher levels of radioactive waste. Last month a new report published in Nature, confirmed Green fears that materials used to store nuclear waste long term are much less durable than previously thought. Burying toxic waste deep in the earth is an unproven, unsustainable and unpredictable route to follow.
"We have already produced vast quantities of radioactive waste, some of which will be deadly dangerous for tens of thousands of years: yet we can't predict how climate change, might impact on this nor the effects the next Ice Age might have in 100,000 years time. Storing this stuff deep underground is asking for problems - the dangers presented by climate change may affect water table levels and geological structures and are likely to impact upon waste storage in ways previously undreamed of. At a time when no safe storage options have been found, it would be irresponsible in the extreme to build new nuclear power stations to add to this deadly toxic legacy."BBC Glos were after an interview - I never like doing that stuff but it was at a particularly awkward time with other meetings planned - Martin Whiteside, the Greens Parliamentary candidate stood in and did a bit on the show despite being equally busy himself. Thanks Martin!
Interestingly yesterday Greenpeace, supported by the Green party won their High Court bid to make the government rethink plans to build a new nuclear power. This is wonderful news and of course I sent out a news release to celebrate - see here. However as I read the Citizen today I can see there are all sorts of mistakes in the Comment column re nuclear power - will need to put something together on that....
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