Safety Twenty years since the world%u2019s worst nuclear disaster, Chernobyl, the human and environmental consequences are still being suffered internationally. Nuclear power is inherently dangerous and, despite claims of improvements in safety, scientists agree that another catastrophe on the scale of Chernobyl could still happen any time, anywhere. Ironically, climate change itself also threatens the safety of nuclear power stations; many reactors are built on coastal sites vulnerable to the impacts of sea level rise, including flooding and erosion.
Reprocessing and nuclear proliferation Nuclear waste is taken from wherever it is produced, across the country, to Sellafield in Cumbria for reprocessing. During reprocessing, plutonium is separated from other wastes for supposed re-use in nuclear reactors. In reality none of this plutonium is reused for electricity generation. The UK now has a stockpile of over a hundred tonnes of deadly plutonium - and no plans for what to do with it. One of the fundamental problems of nuclear power is the hazard posed by the radioactive materials it produces %u2013 some of which can be used in nuclear weapons and all of which can be used in so-called dirty bombs. Just one particle of plutonium can be fatal.
Radioactive waste The UK now has enough radioactive waste to fill the Royal Albert Hall five times over. There%u2019s still no safe way to deal with it. The government plans to bury it deep underground - out of sight, out of mind, for now at least. But no one can guarantee that this highly radioactive waste won%u2019t leak back into the environment, contaminating water supplies and the food chain. Allowing ten new reactors to be built would add threefold to the amount of highly radioactive waste we already have to deal with. This waste will remain dangerous for up to a million years: an outrageous legacy to leave for many generations to come.
Terrorism Aside from the risk of a terrorist strike directly onto a nuclear power station, the nuclear industry transports thousands of tonnes of radioactive waste around the UK by road, rail and sea. Every week, communities up and down the country are put at risk from potential radioactive contamination as these trains trundle through our cities, towns and villages. There are no police or security personnel on board and there are no local plans in place to deal with an emergency. If a nuclear waste train was involved in a terrorist attack, tens of thousands of people could be exposed to cancer causing radiation and whole regions might have to be evacuated.
If their plan succeeds, it will be at the cost of blocking the real solutions to climate change and a reliable future energy supply. It will also result in the continued production of dangerous nuclear waste and an increased risk from terrorism, radioactive accident and nuclear proliferation. Climate change New nuclear power stations would not stop climate change. Even at the most optimistic build rate - 10 new reactors by 2024 %u2013 our carbon emissions would only be cut by four per cent: far too little, far too late. Given the nuclear industry%u2019s poor track record it's highly unlikely that ten reactors could be built within two decades.
The government supports a new generation of nuclear power stations, arguing that we need nuclear power to tackle climate change and provide a secure future energy supply. They're wrong; the reality is that a new generation of nuclear reactors simply won't deliver the urgent emissions cuts needed to tackle climate change. Even the most optimistic estimates suggest that a new generation of nuclear powers stations will only reduce our emissions by four per cent by 2024: far too little, far too late, to stop global warming or address the predicted energy gap. Instead, a new generation of reactors will create tens of thousands of tonnes of the most hazardous radioactive waste, which remains dangerous for up to a million years. It will establish new targets for terrorists, including nuclear waste trains carrying deadly cargoes along our public rail network for decades to come. It will keep the threat of a nuclear reactor accident hanging over us and risk the proliferation of weapons-grade plutonium. And it will render the public liable for the enormous cleaning up costs. But the most imminent threat that a new nuclear age poses is to the real energy solutions to climate change. Investment in nuclear energy and its infrastructure is a dangerous and expensive distraction from the real solutions %u2013 energy efficiency, renewable technology and decentralised energy
RE:New name for BJP
by Subhash Parakh on Sep 06, 2007 02:46 PM Permalink
traitors, tewrrorists, devils and dummies are teh biggest jokers and enemies of India and we have lot of such people every where
Osama trusted the Americans, Americans gave arms & financial support to Osama & team to fight the Russians who invaded Afghanistan. After the Russians left they started attacking Osama. Today they have Karzai who is nothing but a watch dog kept by the Americans.Understand their businees module know the Americans
RE:know the Americans
by MOHAN PYARE on Sep 06, 2007 03:04 PM Permalink
You are speaking half truth. Osama trusted the Americans as long as he wanted the American support to drive away the Russians. Once the Russians left Afghanistan, he turned against the Americans and they became enemies.
RE:RE:know the Americans
by george on Sep 06, 2007 03:06 PM Permalink
Following the Soviet Union's withdrawal from Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia. The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 had put the country of Saudi Arabia and its ruling House of Saud at risk as Saudi's most valuable oil fields (Hama) were within easy striking distance of Iraqi forces in Kuwait, and Saddam's call to pan-Arab/Islamism could potentially rally internal dissent. In the face of a seemingly massive Iraqi military presence, Saudi Arabia's own forces were well armed but far outnumbered. Bin Laden offered the services of his mujahedeen to King Fahd to protect Saudi Arabia from the Iraqi army.
The Saudi monarch refused bin Laden's offer, opting instead to allow U.S. and allied forces to deploy on Saudi territory. The deployment angered Bin Laden, as he believed the presence of foreign troops in the "land of the two mosques" (Mecca and Medina) profaned sacred soil. After speaking publicly against the Saudi government for harboring American troops, he was quickly forced into exile to Sudan and on April 9, 1994 his Saudi citizenship was revoked.His family publicly disowned him. There is controversy over whether and to what extent he continued to garner support from members of his family and/or the Saudi government.
Shortly afterwards, the movement that came to be known as al-Qaeda was formed.
RE:know the Americans
by george on Sep 06, 2007 03:03 PM Permalink
Facts: The United States viewed the conflict in Afghanistan(Soviet war) as an integral part of the Cold War struggle, and the American funds channeled through the Pakistani intelligence services supported native Afghan mujahedeen against Soviet occupation in a CIA program called Operation Cyclone.
At the same time, a growing number of foreign Arab mujahedeen (also called Afghan Arabs) joined the jihad against the Afghan Marxist regime, facilitated by international organizations, particularly the Maktab al-Khidamat, whose funds came from individual Muslims, particularly wealthy Saudis who were approached by Osama bin Laden
RE:RE:know the Americans
by george on Sep 06, 2007 03:04 PM Permalink
The U.S. government maintains that they supported only the indigenous mujahedeen, and that bin Laden's participation in the conflict was unrelated to CIA programs. Al-Qaeda's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri says much the same thing in his book Knights Under the Prophet's Banner.[43] The U.S. was actively recruiting internationally for Muslim radicals. Sheik Abul Rahman, one of the conspirators in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was allowed to come to the U.S. to recruit Arab-Americans to fight in Afghanistan against the Soviets.
RE:know the Americans
by raj on Sep 06, 2007 07:51 PM Permalink
What it got to do with Nuclear treaty? This is not some rag nation . We are talking about India with over a billion people and a Democracy. Your cheap propagada sounds so stupid. What you trying to say? By the way Indian is not Afganistan or Stupid Arab nation.
The current opposition of the leftist parties -- particularly, the Communist Party of India-Marxist -- to the agreement (the so-called 123 agreement) with the US on civil nuclear co-operation and to India's developing strategic relations with the US takes one's mind back to the days before the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to India in November last year.
A Chinese company had won a contract for the construction of a gas pipeline from the Godavari area in Andhra Pradesh. It wanted to bring about 1,000 Chinese engineers to work in the project. The ministry of home affairs and the Intelligence Bureau of the Government of India were not clearing the issue of visas to the Chinese engineers. They asked a number of inconvenient questions as to why it was necessary for the Chinese company to bring in so many of their engineers when unemployed Indian engineers were available.
There was also a paper prepared by the National Security Council Secretariat of the Prime Minister's Office suggesting that proposals for foreign investments in sensitive sectors such as telecommunications from China, Pakistan and Bangladesh should be subjected to a special security vetting.
Sitaram Yechury of the CPI-M, allegedly at the instance of the Chinese embassy in New Delhi, raised a big hue and cry about it and literally forced the Government of India to order the issue of visas to the Chinese engineers and to drop the proposal for a special security vetting for Chinese investment pro
RE:CHINISE INTEREST IS CPI(M)'S INTEREST
by Subhash Parakh on Sep 06, 2007 02:48 PM Permalink
Communists are neither humans nor Indians. they are devils who worship death, destruction an dpoverty.
RE:RE:CHINISE INTEREST IS CPI(M)'S INTEREST
by Buggs Bunney on Sep 06, 2007 03:38 PM Permalink
these are fake communists infesting the republic of india because they support islamic fundamentalists.
communism only concerns the difference between rich & poor i.e. the class struggle. genuine communists never support racial, religious, ethnic or language groups.
true communists as found in the erstwhile soviet union and china would never associate with religion and suppress all religious activities. the soviets suppressed the church while the chinese suppressed all buddhist & taoist activities.
always use the term "fake" or "self-styled" when describing the calcutta communists
Cong record card: 1. Divide the nation on religion line 2. Bringing emergency 3. Bringing corruption in public sector 4. License raj 5. Bofors deal 6. Supplying arms to NE militant and LTTE 7. Killing innocent sikhs in 1984 8. Bringing Dynastic rule indirectly and slave mentality in the nation. Rahul Gandhi, Mr,Sindhia, Mr.Pilot, Mr.Prasad, it endless, the yound generation in cong from east to west, north to south symoblises the dynastic culture. thats their future. 9. Preindependence they supported the rich lanlorad, post independence they run the country for ppl like bajaj 10. Why is that Sindhiya, Pilot, Rajendra prasha whoever opposes Sonia dies within shot span in accident ? or some invisible hands r behind these murders. 11. Killer of Netaji Bose 12. Gandhiji wanted congres to do social works only, Neheru made it his family business. 13. Why Indira dumps her husband just after taking the gandhi surname? 14. Whos behind Sanjay Gandhi's death ? 15. Rajiv remains silent during Shaho Bano case. 16. China takes away Arunachal and Assam under the rule of spineless character neheru. Netaji would have never let that happen. 17. Neheru braught flawed socialism in India 18. Cong had the culture of throwing democratically elected state govt. Very clear who is in favour of democracy 19. Takes India into war and brings inflation and poverty in 1971. Very clear who needs poor people
RE:Congress report card
by bandu bondu on Sep 06, 2007 02:36 PM Permalink
Yeer VInay good . Atleast People should relase that what COng did in last 55yrs after 1947. Nehru given a big Bumboo to us/ MMgandhi delayed our independance.
Vinay u forgot one thing more that is : They dont have recore of Great HERO Netaji Subash CH. Bose. who stood 1st rank in ICS and refused it and made AZAD HIND FOUZ and fought for Indians Indepence:
DONT VOTE TO CONG.AND CPIM DONT VOTE TO CONG.AND CPIM DONT VOTE TO CONG.AND CPIM DONT VOTE TO CONG.AND CPIM DONT VOTE TO CONG.AND CPIM DONT VOTE TO CONG.AND CPIM DONT VOTE TO CONG.AND CPIM
RE:Congress report card
by Vinay Gupta on Sep 06, 2007 02:52 PM Permalink
Bandu, Cong and CPM abuse each other in election and when they reach Parliament and people cannot recall them , they form a unholly allaince and claim that they have mandate to rule!
sir DRAMA is going on. JSt enjoy and u/stnd this HYPO. politicians. Election is coming soon , so what cong. did is :
1. Announch a package for Muslims and OBC. and they realised that Cong. did not do good for them. but see, they realised when election is coming??? what they have done from past 55yrs???
2.N-deal, stoped cuz, cpim refused to support. CPIM also waitng for ELECTION.I thing CPIM is no1. political party whose activity more than BJP,SHIV SENA.
3. In Assam,Non-Asamies are killing by ALFA evry month. COnz not suporting for RASTRAPATI SASAN, cuz ?? because that state run by Cong. Chief minister.
MAny more. DOnt VOte to CONG AND CPIM NXT TIME> WE are not intersetd to see daram again and again.
RE:DRAMA
by bandu bondu on Sep 06, 2007 02:39 PM Permalink
tamal I know. NANDIGRAM and SINGUR never forgive them. CPIM u/stood what they did. Aritist forum also agaist means big kick to cpim.
