I, too, am not keen on nuclear. The stuff below is part of a letter that I have just sent off to several newspapers.

"In early 2007 the Howard Government seems willing to accept only one alternative to fossil fuels: nuclear power. Why the blindness to sustainable power? I can only suppose that there are two factors here: PM Howard has fixed in his mind the idea that anything sustainable is 'left-wing greeny nonsense' and must be avoided; Howard totally dominates the Parliamentary Liberal party to the point where his ideas, even those that are outdated and/or quite wrong, are accepted without serious questioning.

Nuclear power should be considered as an alternative to fossil fuels, but should not be given priority over sustainable alternatives. Sustainable options should be favoured because they are sustainable while nuclear is not, they can be brought on-line much more quickly than nuclear, they are more decentralised than nuclear, and because they do not leave the long-term problems associated with nuclear, that is: 1. the very high cost of decommissioning old nuclear power stations; 2. the possibility of some of the elements and/or isotopes created in the reactors being diverted for weapons, dirty bombs, etc, and 3. the unresolved problems of the disposal of nuclear waste.

Another factor that must be taken into consideration is that nuclear power stations will provide a target for terrorist attack and also for an enemy in any future conventional or nuclear war. A bombed nuclear power station would release far more radioactive material into the environment than a nuclear weapon. (There are many tonnes of highly radioactive materials in any nuclear power reactor that has been running for a considerable period, at most only a few tonnes are produced by a nuclear weapon.)"

However, the world uses nuclear, Australia might use nuclear in the future; shouldn't we consider it rationally, and if we use it, do so efficiently?

Dave,
Does the 1% energy capture take into account the recycling of spent nuclear fuel rods? I believe only 4% of the uranium is actually fissioned per use.