Liberal Democrats condemn pro-nuclear decision in Suffolk (East of England Liberal Democrats)

East of England Liberal Democrats <info@eastlibdems.org.uk>

Liberal Democrats condemn pro-nuclear decision in Suffolk

September 17, 2007 4:53 PM

Liberal Democrats on Suffolk County Council condemned the decision of the ruling Conservative group to vote in favour of nuclear energy for Suffolk. The decision came after a wide ranging debate on the future of nuclear energy in the UK and in Suffolk in particular.

The Labour group spilt on the issue with the final vote being 50 for and 15 against (with no abstentions). The Liberal Democrats voted against.

Speaking about the debate, Group Leader Cllr Kathy Pollard said, "In a recent Government consultation 92% of people were very or quite concerned about creating new nuclear waste. The present projected volume of wastes following decommissioning of all UK reactors is 478,000 cubic metres. Much of this waste will take many hundreds of thousands of years to decay to the level at which the radioactivity poses no measurable hazard to the environment. We can no longer dump it at sea, so what are we to do with it? Even advocates of nuclear power admit there is no answer for this.

Although nuclear power is often touted as a low carbon source of energy, we need to remember that there is more than one way to damage the environment: nuclear waste is a very significant way to do that. Until an answer is found for what to do with the waste I cannot support this technology."

Deputy Leader Cllr Andrew Cann added, "I have never been able to understand the security of supply argument in favour of nuclear power because there are no domestic sources of uranium: all the uranium we use has to be imported. On the other hand, wind, tide and solar power are in plenty of local supply. I really wonder how far these technologies would be advanced now had they had the same level of investment by the Government as nuclear energy?

Another issue which concerns me is the fact that, after the Nuclear Installations Act 1965, the nuclear industry is not wholly liable for any damage accidents may cause: their liability is capped and the taxpayer would pick up the rest of the bill. The nuclear industry should, like any other industry, pay its way: the cost of a nuclear accident could be staggering and I fail to see why the taxpayer should foot the bill."

Liberal Democrat Cllr Penny Otton, concluded, "At Sizewell B spent fuel is stored on site. In a worst case scenario a successful attack on the power station by a terrorist could result in the ignition of spent fuel causing a large release of radioactivity for miles around. With the increasingly complex nature of world terrorism it really concerns me that the people of Suffolk, and the wider UK, could be harmed by such an attack."