Gardiner appeals to Government - don’t drift into a decision to build Nuclear Power Stations
Samuel Gardiner MLA, Ulster Unionist Environment Spokesman, today appealed to the government to think again before it committed the country to building a new crop of nuclear power stations.
“The Government have left off making a decision on the country’s future power needs for so long that they have made it almost inevitable that they will have to follow the nuclear route. That is against the wishes and instincts of most people in the country,” said Mr Gardiner.
“Now a House of Commons Committee has highlighted the likely shortfall in our national capacity to produce enough electricity to meet national needs, even if you don’t factor in a likely rise in demand which most people feel is inevitable. They have predicted major electricity blackouts within a decade.”
“With almost a quarter of the country’s current generating capacity due to be decommissioned by 2016, the Commons Environmental Audit Committee has also said that there was not time to wait for a new generation of nuclear reactors which wouldn’t reach full generating capacity until 2030.”
“We must see a far greater push towards green energy produced from alternative sources. At present alternative energy supplies only a tiny percentage of our national needs. We also need to see more energy produced from bio-fuels and we need to see encouragement given to farmers to produce crops to make this possible. We also must see even greater encouragement of photovoltaic solar energy for households contributing to the national grid, as well as more widespread use of wind power, especially with the predicted rise in wind strength predicted as part of our local climate change pattern.”
“I am deeply concerned that if we drift into the nuclear option, then we will be storing up enormous problems for ourselves over issues like the disposal of nuclear waste. People in Northern Ireland already have deep concerns about Sellafield and the prospect of more nuclear reactors is inevitably going to lead to massive protests everywhere.”
“At a time when the country as a whole is going for green alternative energy and when there is a genuine widespread concern about environmental issues, the Government seems to drifting into a deeply unpopular nuclear option for energy.”
“This all stacks up very badly when you consider that the Prime Minister has failed to support his own Environment Ministers’ when the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) blocked their attempts to cut pollution. This is despite the Prime Minister repeatedly saying climate change is the world’s most serious long-term threat.”
“This Government’s green credentials are now badly dented and any drift into a nuclear future will be the final nail in the coffin for their green credibility,” said Mr Gardiner.