The False God of Uranium

‘Even if nuclear power were free it wouldn’t be worth the risks’

It’s one of the most extraordinary global image makeovers the world has ever seen. Three decades ago the Chernobyl power plant disaster in the Ukraine was the dirty, ugly face of nuclear energy. Governments everywhere retreated so fast from nuclear power that the glut of cheap uranium left on the world market took years to absorb.

Today, nuclear energy is firmly back on the table as the new “green power,” an emissions-free alternative to fossil fuels; the catastrophic threat of global warming apparently dwarfing the known dangers of nuclear waste and the perils of illegal trafficking in nuclear weapons of mass destruction.

Uranium prices have tripled in the past two years and governments are talking up nuclear power, as though there’s never been an accident. It’s the “cake and eat it” energy solution; there’s no need to curb our lifestyles or to rein in industry if nuclear power can pick up where fossil fuels will, eventually, leave off.

In Asia, the epicenter of soaring global consumption, geopolitics is leaning heavily nuclear energy’s way. The United States’ extraordinary, unilateral decision to offer India the world’s sixth nuclear chair — despite its refusal to sign the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty — should facilitate the rapid expansion of civilian nuclear power to help meet the voracious energy demands of a high growth economy. The U.S. is, of course, cozying up to India as a counterbalance against China’s rising power. And, China will respond in kind. China’s energy needs are no less pressing and its demand for uranium is expected to quadruple by 2020.

OnmyNews International