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While the Commonwealth Party advocates alternative energies, fusion research, energy conservation and environmental initiatives; we also endorse nuclear power as one of the best means of meeting the energy needs of today's society. Why? Other types of electric generation (fossil - even natural gas) are more certain to have adverse environmental consequences or to be less desirable in implementation. This is not to say nuclear power does not share some problems and controversies but weighing it all together and adding refinements, nuclear power is an appreciable method when its contingencies are addressed. Fossil fuel electric generation will definitely cause environmental degradation while nuclear power is cleaner in process though storage of spent fuel-rods is a hot potato. Here those concerns can be lessened by adopting a similar method that the French use. They use their nuclear waste in a second tier of deriving power and thus they have less waste and more electricity production. Generation IV nuclear reactors are coming forth to reuse such waste. While the idea previously positted here of ferrying the waste into space, the sun or storing it on the moon are innovative suggestions, the cost of using rockets at current payload prices and safety concerns make this option unviable. The events at Chernobyl and Fukushima were preventable while recent American design of reactors are thickened and able to withstand the forces of nature or even a plane slamming into them. However, there is concern over used fuel-rods being stored around reactors in overcrowded spent fuel pools dependent upon electric cooling -- a vulnerability that compromised Fukishima. This is happening at power plants all around the country due in part to the federal government reneging on a permanent storage facility -- namely Yucca Mountain and this needs to be resolved. If that is addressed and a move is made at least to local dry cask storage of spent nuclear fuel with other safety backups in place, then our nuclear industry will be pretty secure. Nuclear power has proven itself to be relatively safe overall despite some noteworthy incidents. With properly designed plants and back-up systems, nuclear reliability has been and can be further maintained. Consider the proportion of electricity that is nuclear-generated day after day and one will come to the same conclusion as science has over which method to rely on for large-scale power production. For now, nuclear is a competitive method with the least general environmental impact. Of course, we will still advocate alternative power sources, conservation and consider future development possibly away from the typical large-scale, power-grid distribution as technology and economy will allow. |