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The Green Party
has called on the Minister for the Environment Dick Roche to meet
with his UK counterparts over the British decision to include the
nuclear option for electricity generation in a review of energy
policy.
Green Party
Justice spokesperson Ciarán Cuffe TD said today that, "The
risks of nuclear power outweigh the benefits, particularly in a post
9-11 world.
"Nuclear power
carries a significant risk of accidents either through accidental
failure or human error. Those risks are added to by the risk of
terrorist attack in a post 9-11 world.
"Passing on a
nuclear waste legacy to our children is too high a price to pay for
energy production. The UK has still not figured out where to finally
dispose of the nuclear waste from the current generation of nuclear
power stations. The decommissioning bill for those stations has been
estimated at eighty billion euro. That would buy a lot of wind
turbines.
"The answer to
our energy difficulties and our response to climate change must be
to increase energy efficiency; improve building and planning
standards; and invest in renewable energy sources. Both the Irish
and UK Governments should be working together to make this
happen," concluded Deputy Cuffe.
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