Nuclear power could see costs tumble

As always, David Penney makes a plausible case for “green” energy.
Energy bills. Photo: Rui Vieira/PA WireEnergy bills. Photo: Rui Vieira/PA Wire
Energy bills. Photo: Rui Vieira/PA Wire

One statistic, however, in favour of nuclear should make us all think again.

Per megawatt hour of energy generated, nuclear causes around half the deaths of green generation and dramatically less deaths than fossil fuel generation.

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The nuclear accident figures include the four sites he quotes.

The two more serious were Chernobyl (poor design and seriously negligent management) and Fukashima (unwisely built in a tectonically very unstable area).

As with aircraft accident investigation, lessons have been learned for the future. Nuclear propulsion in submarines has been successful for decades.

Maybe having lots of units more in this much smaller category could be even safer and bring the cost tumbling down.

Owen Oliver

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