Policy & Politics Blog

14 March 2011

Nuclear power after Japan

The horrific pictures and stories from Japan have kept me glued to the BBC. I imagine that like many other people I found the television pictures of the tsunami engulfing buildings and tossing around cars and boats both compelling viewing and almost unbearable to watch.

I was relieved when I heard that the few people I know in Japan, Friends of the Earth colleagues, were okay. But at the same time I was horrified by the sheer scale of the destruction and numbers of people dead. Now, like others, I am listening to the news to hear what is happening at the nuclear power plant. For the sake of everybody concerned I want them to get the situation under control as fast as possible. An earthquake, tsunami and now a major nuclear incident - it's almost impossible to imagine what people are going through.

But when the situation does get under control, hoping it does, it must provoke a new look at nuclear power. The Japanese nuclear power plants will have had numerous safety features; after all they knew they were building in an area prone to earthquakes. These safety features clearly didn't work. Politicians looking to give the go-ahead to nuclear power plants in the UK and elsewhere need to look again at the safety of the designs they are approving and evaluate whether they really are as fool-proof as they need to be. Will they really be able to stand-up to sea surges, flooding and even terrorist attacks? Is it possible to build fool-proof nuclear reactors? The risk of serious accidents may be very low, but the impact from nuclear accidents can be very high indeed.

I remain convinced that the UK doesn't need nuclear power plants. I am convinced that we can wean ourselves off oil and cut carbon emissions by saving energy and using renewable energy. Over coming weeks and months colleagues and I will continue to make the case for this, as I was last week during the Department of Energy & Climate Change energy pathways debate. But right now I'm just hoping and praying that our Japanese friends don't have to suffer more.

Posted by Mike Childs | 14 Mar 2011 | Energy