The political cowardice of earlier UK governments, particularly that of Tony Blair, who had to make the decision in the mid 1990's, but kicked the can down the road, in not committing the UK to a generation of Nuclear power station renewal, has not only cost us our national pride - we have had to ask the French with Chinese backing, to build the next one, after all our world expertise was lost, with a generation of non building .....
but its also lead to the almost certain fact that the UK could be facing power blackouts in any bad winter in the next decade or so.
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| UKs Fuel and Power Sources |
but its also lead to the almost certain fact that the UK could be facing power blackouts in any bad winter in the next decade or so.
Our collapse as a major industrial power, is linked very closely to the inability of the UK to build major projects, from Nuclear to Railways, Motorways, to Airports ..... but the failure to secure the nations power supplies is tantamount to a gross betrayal of the very reason we vote for politicians.
We are now in such a mess, that far from promoting the 'green' agenda that the anti-nuclear factions expected when blocking the nuclear option, they have in fact; not only forced the current government to go nuclear at a very much greater cost (double the normal tariff rate for 10 years), than a planned 30 year renewal program would have done; but also to consider reducing the green tariffs in fuel bills (to try and stop the elderly dying); and now finally we may actually having to turn back to coal .... yes coal the very cause of the green house gases, unless wind and tidal power supplies can meet any shortfall.
Apparently we may have to reopen or extend the working lives of coal plants (still 40% of our electric supply), in order to stave off the potential blackouts, because none of our shiftless politicians know who will get the blame as we huddle in the freezing dark. And for sure we will blame someone, and it should be those, who knowingly put off the decisions that they were voted in to power to take .....
What a mess, and all because we have no real national strategic priorities over building the necessary infrastructure the majority of us want and use .... never mind the tiny little pressure groups who seem to hold our politicians in their sway, and the rest of the country in their thrall, they need to grow some backbones, and do what has to be done for the good of us all, not the one issue nutters.
Apparently we may have to reopen or extend the working lives of coal plants (still 40% of our electric supply), in order to stave off the potential blackouts, because none of our shiftless politicians know who will get the blame as we huddle in the freezing dark. And for sure we will blame someone, and it should be those, who knowingly put off the decisions that they were voted in to power to take .....
What a mess, and all because we have no real national strategic priorities over building the necessary infrastructure the majority of us want and use .... never mind the tiny little pressure groups who seem to hold our politicians in their sway, and the rest of the country in their thrall, they need to grow some backbones, and do what has to be done for the good of us all, not the one issue nutters.
It's a disgrace that we allow minority pressure groups to determine national policies. We need to bring in referendums for big issues.
ReplyDeleteCan't disagree with that statement. As Mr Spock says "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" ... something our rulers forget is the basis of 'Democracy'.
DeleteI'm still sceptical about the cost of nuclear power, I find it hard to believe that when the cost of storing dangerous nuclear waste in enormous underground, screened and indestructable bunkers which have to be closely monitored til the end of time, is factored in that it can be economic.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's if everything goes to plan because if just one nuclear power station goes into melt-down, how much does it cost to contain the radiation and evacuate the surrounding area for the next 1,000 years? I suspect that these costs are picked up by the taxpayer rendering the mere production of electricity superficially attractive.
Its "Green" (from a gases point of view), its reliable (24hrs, 365days, 50 yrs) and disposal costs are exaggerated by the 'N.I.M.B.Y' attitudes of sites where it could be safely disposed of miles underground in old mines. In the end we could face a life huddled in dark cold homes or caves (ironically the same mines we wouldn't use for storing waste), or paying through the nose to the Russians or Arabs, while France takes the money and laughs across the channel.
DeleteNIMBY is the term used by NIMBYs who don't live where those other NIMBYs live.
DeleteExaggerated or not those disposal costs are there and I don't know how many experts would agree that waste can be safely disposed of miles underground. We could face a life huddled in dark cold homes but that may be preferable to living in a country irrevocably poisoned by radiation.
Well we may get to find out what 'a life huddled in dark cold homes' is like, because if we get a bad winter in the next couple of years, a major power company has just said that the power shortages could be worse than previously predicted:
Deletehttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/10428950/Power-crisis-risk-worse-than-feared-this-winter-SSE-warns.html
Apparently we face a winter with factory shutdowns and “politically unacceptable” price spikes, although no blackouts for homes. So if not quite the 'Winter Of Discontent', then we could still face a 3 day week again.
Then try telling everyone that we need more 'windmills' to supply the country.
LOL .... well that's something to look forward to this winter. Thanks for the comment and good luck with that jumper.
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