Nuclear Power - Is it part of our future or past?

People are so afraid of what might happen with a nuclear power plant and perhaps they should be. The potential for destruction is high. But so is a dam breaking and the pollution produced daily by other power sources. We live in Canada and I trust and believe that the powers that be would not only ensure we would never have a Three Mile Island or, God forbid, a Chernobyl but go beyond recommended safety levels. Canada's current nuclear plants are old yet they have maintained an excellent safety record. We need to build more plants as this is the least invasive in the environment and is clean. I do think the waste produced does become a problem but compared to what a coal or oil plant produces, this is insignificant. People could talk about wind generation, solar power, geothermal etc.. but except for geothermal, the other two are unreliable in Canada (no sunshine for solar in many areas and even windy areas will calm down at times).

If you look at the actual industries, nuclear power is the cleanest and most efficient method that people are aware of. The problem is that due to issues in other countries many years ago, everyone paints the nuclear industry with the same brush. People should actually research the issue and make a decison that way. Not simply being afraid.

Is nuclear power part of our energy future?

I hope not. The potential for disaster is too great and maybe a greater concern is what do we do with waste. It is not as clean as some suggest and it's cost cannot be determined until we include the cost of cleanup over the long term.

And nuclear weapons should never, never, never, have been allowed to be developed. All nations should abandon them immediately. If the US did it would be easier to persuade the other nations to ban them too.

Nik what with what has been happening in Ottawa the last few days, this is not exactly the topic Canadians are interested in! Ther are no Nuclear Power Plants in BC, we just have large dams and excellent water power!

Nuclear is the only way to go! A comparison of deaths to coal miners, pollution from any fossil fuel, smog effects from fossil fuels, etc. etc. against the problem of nuclear waste disposal leads to the conclusion that nuclear is the way to go. I do not have the numbers, but the waste per kilowatt produced is orders of magnitude greater for fossil fuels than for nuclear. Hydro power even has its problems ecologically by way of land inundated etc. Hydro power is a limited resource anyway. Quebec and BC are fortunate in having it to develop – but most other provinces have few further locations to develop.

When I hear of nuclear power generation, it immediately brings to mind the disasters of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl-----the former where corporate dishonesty and profit over- rode safety and the latter where management incompetance compromised any thought of safety. We do not hear about the many nuclear generating plants that have operated safely for years. On the other hand, nuclear submarines and nuclear powered military surface vessels appear to have a reasonable safety record (as far as we know). Nuclear power has been around for more than 40 years and major advances in technology and safety must have been made but who do YOU trust ? What is the unblemished truth about the storage of nuclear waste free from corporate liars and government BS? My reluctance to fully embrace nuclear power is because those "in control" have failed "to do their public duty".

I believe we should fully exploit hydro electric and embrace the new technologies of geothermal generation where applicable, tidal surge where applicable with the maritime provinces, wind generation farms such as those leaders in Denmark and Germany then fill the energy gap with nuclear power. Conservation of energy is a related issue.

I think that Nuclear Energy is a critical component to meeting the energy requirements of Canada and it is, as well, a product (Nuclear Generated Energy) that we should be exporting in the near term to help us finance the preparation of our society for the changing nature of future employment opportunities.
We have made the decision to give away whole sectors of our employment in manufacturing because we are unable to compete on a world-class level with our inflated salaries, our marginal productivity and the unbridled greed at the top levels of our banks and corporations.
I feel we will need to rely on energy exports as a means to help finance an adequate level of social and health services for the retiring baby boomers and for the re-structuring of our Canadian society to equip our youth for the higher academic competences which will be necessary to fill the more technically sophisticated jobs of the future.
I may be wrong but I feel we don't really appreciate the impact of the tremendous transfer of wealth that is taking place as the economies of China and India expand at record levels.

In Quebec, we are fortunate in having the natural resources that allow us to harness an enormous amount of hydro generating capacity and this capacity is being enhanced as we speak. Since the fossil burning generators are such a large source of our atmospheric degradation, I wonder if Quebec shouldn't be concentrating on helping other provinces and states to solve their energy problem through a renewed emphasis on our providing them with reliable, less expensive and cleaner energy. Perhaps our willingness to share would rub off on others who are in a similar position with petroleum resources.