In favour of nuclear power

Here are the views of Malcom Grimston, an expert on nuclear energy at London’s Chatham House think tank:

We need three things from our energy and electricity. It’s got to be as cheap as possible, it’s got to be reliable – power cuts are very expensive – and it’s got to do as little damage to the environment as possible.

Nuclear power: the case against

We’ve asked  Ben Ayliffe, Senior Nuclear Campaigner from Greenpeace UK, to tell us why he opposes nuclear power. Ben will be with us in the programme in a couple of hours. We should be getting a pro-nuclear view as well. But first, let’s see what Ben has to say.

Nuclear is big news again. We’ve had a lot of hot air recently about how we need new nuclear to tackle climate change and maintain the UK’s energy security.

This is a very tall tale that serves to expose the lie at the heart of the debate about nuclear. New reactors simply won’t deliver the urgent emissions cuts we need to tackle climate change.

IS NUCLEAR THE FUTURE ?

Hola, Peter Dobbie here with news of today’s World Have Your Say, on air at 1800 GMT ) Today:  

IN NUCLEAR POWER THE ONLY OPTION ? 

The British government’s go-ahead for a new generation of nuclear power stations has provoked heated debate, among the ‘pros’ and the ‘antis’ – those for, and those against. This follows the announcement that a new generation of nuclear power stations in the UK has been given formal backing by the government. The official line is that it will be a “safe and affordable” way of securing the UK’s future energy supplies while fighting climate change. Any plants would be built at, or near, existing reactors by private firms, with the first one completed “well before 2020″. That date is significant – stay with me to find out why. 

Anyway, has the British government got it right —

IS NUCLEAR THE FUTURE ? 

Happy anniversary

Good morning, how are you today? Thanks for everyone’s suggestions on the mice. I’m not sure how much help they will be, but anyway. I’m pretty sure BBC Workplace aren’t going to let us bring in a shotgun (George) or have a cat (Luci) although there was one (a cat, not a shotgun, as far as I know) when I started at BBC Monitoring 6+ years ago.

Anyway, possibilities today include the sixth anniversary of the arrival of the first inmates at Guantanamo; President Bush’s trip to the Middle East; the death of Edmund Hillary; the release of the FARC hostages; and the British government’s announcement that the UK will have a new nuclear power station by 2020.