The conversation: Is nuclear power still the answer to our energy problems?

As we move to reduce our reliance on high-carbon energy, George Monbiot believes nuclear is the best option. No, says Caroline Lucas , renewables should be the priority. Susanna Rustin chairs the debate This week George Monbiot wrote that the Fukoshima disaster had won him over to nuclear power. Green MP Caroline Lucas believes the technology is costly and dangerous. Susanna Rustin brought them together, and heard the arguments. Caroline Lucas: There are ... Full Story »

Posted by Fabrice Florin - via NewsRack (Energy), AllTop, Google News (Energy), Ron Steffens (t)
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Posted by: Posted by Fabrice Florin - Mar 26, 2011 - 2:18 AM PDT
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Marsha Iverson
4.0
by Marsha Iverson - Mar. 26, 2011

Entirely too civilized and restrained a conversation a the relative financial feasibility, sustainability, potential power generation, and inherent risks of nuclear vs renewable power. Both sides seem to be basing their views on the presumption of large-scale, revenue-generating power grids, which is not necessarily a 'given' in the future.

Many years ago, wiser analysts predicted that, by the middle of this century, the "Third World" nations would "leapfrog" the "Industrial Giants" and leave is in the dust...simply because we will cling to our outmoded infrastructure and they would not be burdened by it. There is no support for renewable and sustainable energy because this is a problem the big-money interests to not want to solve until they've wrung all there is out of everything else. it isn't easy to monopolize ... More »

This week George Monbiot wrote that the Fukoshima disaster had won him over to nuclear power. Green MP Caroline Lucas believes the technology is costly and dangerous. ... More »

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Alex Konow
4.2
by Alex Konow - Mar. 30, 2011

It is relatively good journalism. In the end, this journalist was simply observing a conversation between two people but, at least, these were two people who were very well-informed on the subject of nuclear power. Even still, they could not come to an agreement, which strikes me.

This is important as it helps people weigh in to the nuclear-power debate. It is an interesting topic as some countries have already decided to switch over while others continue to be reluctant. Afterall, we have come to appreciate the dangerous nature of nuclear energy. It is important that people stay informed on this, particularly with the energy crisis we have been having for so many years.

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Patricia Blochowiak
2.0
by Patricia Blochowiak - Mar. 26, 2011

Two sides of an argument, one reasonable and one unreasonable, side-by-side as if they were equally reasonable, does not, in my opinion, make good journalism.

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Fabrice Florin
3.5
by Fabrice Florin - Mar. 26, 2011
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Tom Carine
3.4
by Tom Carine - Apr. 10, 2011

While the debate is extremely topical and definitely in need of debate, what we really need is experts in the fields. Yes, these two are extremely well informed and have great arguments for their sides, but in the end they are not experts. WE can talk about green energy till the cows come home, but I see no experts cited or statistics given in true confidence. We can also talk about the safety and sustainability of nuclear power, but we have no expert here to really give us a play by play of whats truly going on.

I understand that people are still fully afraid of nuclear power and some ideas and paranoia are verifiable, but in the end lets look at a few things. 1) Who's bright idea was it to build a nuclear plant on some of the must unstable land on the planet? I mean that is just poor planing and can be easily avoided. There's a re reason we don't have plants here in California, because its a bad idea. 2) Why are we comparing this reactor to Chernobyl? That was a reactor that was not made to ... More »

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Stephanus Van Brandest
3.8
by Stephanus Van Brandest - Mar. 31, 2011

This is a good journalism as the story involves a moderator between two opposing views. Each correspondent also seem to know how to support their own arguments.

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