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BOURNEMOUTH NATURAL SCIENCE SOCIETY | ||
| 39 Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, Dorset BH1 3NS, UK. Registered Charity No. 219585 |
This talk was part 2 of a 3-part presentation on nuclear energy by Brendan McNamara.
Hydrocarbon availability will drop rapidly from 2010. Energy supplies will be even worse if we don't use coal extensively because of the global warming threat. Three Mile Island and Chernobyl have caused there to be an anti-nuclear psychology. The UK has moved away from nuclear power so much it is now dependent on France and the US for skills to build reactors.
There is a huge amount of fuel available, enough to last 1,000 years, or 3,000 years if Thorium is included. Used fuel is still 94.5% fuel. The UK will have 106,000 tonnnes of such depleted Uranium by 2020, which still has enough energy to supply the UK for 600 years.
The non-proliferation treaty has been a complete farce, as it allows extensive get-outs. We need to have complete monitoring of every Kg of Uranium mined in order to ensure weapon security. The market will not achieve this, it needs complete international agreement. The examples of Pakistan, Iran, Libya and North Korea show how inadequate current controls are.
Brendan also discussed the roles of Sakharov in Russia and Teller in the US. Sakahrov designed the Soviet A- and H- bombs, and became a dissident who eventually won the Nobel Peace Prize. Teller helped to keep the cold war alive by unceasingly persuading the US government of the necessity to develop new nuclear weapons.
All in all, Brendan gave a precise presentation of a disconcertingly out of control situation both in connection with nuclear power supplies and nuclear weapons. However he did describe mechanisms to address both these issues, so there may yet be hope of their satisfactory resolution.