"Gordon Brown is wrong wrong wrong on Nuclear Power", Adam Carew, Chairman, Green Liberal Democrats

LETTER TO GREEN LIB DEMS

"Gordon Brown is wrong wrong wrong on Nuclear Power"

Dear Sir

Today the Government announced plans for a new generation of Nuclear reactors.

This is the latest in the line of spectacularly stupid decisions by Mr Brown's Labour administration. Nuclear power is dangerous, massively expensive and wide open to terrorist attack.

We should be putting money into energy efficiency and renewable energy instead.

This decision is a serious blow for Britain and the environment.

Nuclear will not plug the energy gap. We have may be a decade to get to grips with climate change before it becomes totally irreversible. Nuclear will do nothing to help reduce carbon emissions - its estimated that 10 new nuclear reactors will only produce a 4% cut in carbon by 2025 anyway which is too little too late.

Nuclear power will do nothing to secure energy supplies or reduce reliance on fossil fuels. 86% of oil and gas consumption in the UK is used for other sources than creating electricity. Gas is used for hot water, heating and industry, oil is almost virtually used for transport. Nuclear only creates electricity.

Over 30 % of the energy generated in the UK is lost either at source or on the way to our homes. If we are serious about climate change , rather than wasting billions of tax payers money on dangerous Nuclear power we must invest now in energy efficiency and renewables.

Nuclear power is highly dangerous - those of us growing up in the 80s and 90s remember Chernobyl and 3 mile island not forgetting the radio active leaks from Windscale / Sellafield.

In an era of global terrorism these reactors will be totally open to Terrorist attack - the fact that they will be privately owned will do nothing to reassure the public.

Nuclear is massively expensive. Nowhere in the world has a nuclear power station been built without multi million pound state subsidy.

Then there is a problem of Nuclear Waste - it will cost £70 Billion of tax payers money to clear up the existing mess made by Nuclear and a new nuclear waste dump. No-one in the right mind would want a nuclear power station or waste dump near them, so Labour have rigged the planning system so these decisions will be decided unelected cronies nationally rather going through the local planning process.

Don't look to the toxic Tories to do anything either. For all his publicity stunts Cameron's Conservatives are blue not green and equally pro-nuclear.

The Liberal Democrats want a Green Britain - we are the only party to produce costed plans to make Britain carbon neutral by 2050 without resorting to Nuclear Power. We want Britain to become a world leader in renewable energy and we will fight Mr Brown's dangerous and expensive nuclear plans every step of the way.

Yours faithfully,

Adam Carew

Chairman, Green Liberal Democrats