Nuclear Not The Answer

Recently I attended the 2007 Youth Parliament and one of the topics we debated was how to reduce our carbon and ecological footprint.

A fellow MP bought up the subject of Nuclear Power and its pros compared to Sustainable Energy. At his insistence that Nuclear was a viable option for New Zealand to pursue, I was struck by a sudden thought: Nuclear Power may be efficient and slightly cleaner than the Sustainable Energy New Zealand craves, however, the construction of one of these ticking time bombs would consume and utilise vast amounts of fossil fuels, which in turn would release a huge amount of Carbon and GHG’s* into our already vulnerable atmosphere.

Then of course there is the high risk of a reactor meltdown similar to Chernobyl. I realise Chernobyl was 20 years ago but all it takes is a minor “cock-up” or human error for the whole thing to blow up (quite literally) in our faces.

How about transporting and dumping the toxic byproduct? As I write this there are ships forever sailing loaded with Nuclear Waste because no country will allow this waste into their ports. Of course all this waste will most likely be dumped into the waters of the pacific: the popular choice for Nuclear Testing – particularly Mururoa, the location of the controversial French Tests.

New Zealand is still obligated to ratify the Kyoto Protocol in order to cut down on our Carbon and GHG* emissions. This is an admirable goal and we as a nation have the potential to achieve this goal and be a world leader in the attempt to reduce our ecological impact. However I do not believe Nuclear Power is the remedy.

Are we not Aotearoa: Land of the Long White Cloud? Perhaps Aotearoa: Land of the Long Toxic Black Cloud is more befitting.

Is that really the image we want for New Zealand? Is that the image we want for our children? We should be preserving our Clean, Green image for the next generation of New Zealanders.
It’s not yet too late to save our planet from choking in our pollution. So why do we keep delaying? Why do we keep shifting the blame onto others? If everyone did their part – no matter how small – we would be well on our way to becoming a world leader in reducing our Carbon Emissions and Ecological footprint. These could include investing in energy efficient bulbs and using bicycles and public transport.

As the saying goes “One step, no matter how small, is a step in the right direction!”

So let us all make that one step.