Earlier this year Trinity College’s Science Gallery published a short piece on its website about nuclear energy, asking the question whether Ireland ‘should go nuclear’. The author put the question to readers, and the interesting thing is that the 10 people who responded all argued in favour of nuclear energy. Of course it is impossible to say whether this is representative of wider opinion, but what is clear is that there is now a much greater acceptance in Ireland of the need for a debate on this. Even the Green Party, which had insisted on a statement in the current coalition’s programme for government committing us to a nuclear-free Ireland, now accepts the benefits of a debate (without necessarily wanting a different outcome).
As we approach or encounter ‘peak oil‘ (the point at which oil extraction starts to decline), it is vital that Ireland seriously considers nuclear energy. Although renewable energy sources generally are to be welcomed and pursued, they will never meet total energy needs. There is, it seems to me, no alternative to nuclear power as a major source of energy. It is time for us to face that reality and plan accordingly.
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