Andreas Späth, News24 User
I don't like nuclear energy. I don't like living 30kms from Africa's sole commercial nuclear power plant. Mostly, this is just a visceral gut reaction - atomic energy worries me and I don't want it in my life, period.
The nuclear industry has been doing badly in recent years so I haven't had much need to defend my hatred for it in a more rational way, but unfortunately... nuclear power seems on the comeback trail.
A growing number of governments, including those of the US, the UK and South Africa, are actively promoting a growing role for atomic power. The nuclear energy lobby is fraudulently promoting itself as a "carbon-free alternative", the habitually deceitful George W Bush claims that "nukyular" power is a renewable source of energy and even the erstwhile darling of the new-age green movement, James Lovelock who conceived the Gaia theory, tells us that "nuclear power is the only green solution" to global warming.
The South African government is heavily invested in the nuclear industry and has just revealed a nuclear program involving the construction of 12 conventional and 24 pebble bed modular reactor atomic power stations.
The Cape Argus recently quoted Rob Adam, the CE of the Nuclear Energy Corporation of SA (Necsa) as saying that "geographic factors in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape ruled out any sources of power other than nuclear energy."
This is an astonishing statement, mostly because it is completely untrue. Wind power and solar power are both viable options in the Western and Eastern Cape. I wrote several emails to Necsa to find out if Adam had perhaps been misquoted, but have yet to receive a response.
So what are we to do, faced with all this pro-nuclear propaganda? Educate ourselves. Say no to this dangerous technology, oppose it wherever we can and spread the word. Here are six good reasons to ditch nuclear power for good...
Click here for Andreas's six reasons...
- News24
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