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Last but not least, in normal operation, nuclear power plants
are environmentally benign electricity generators.
They do not
cause emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon
dioxide, or ashes containing big quantities of heavy toxic
metals.
Let me now discuss the concerns in some more detail, as these are
important in the minds of many decision makers. It is important first of
all not to consider nuclear power in isolation. A discussion of the
acceptability or desirability of nuclear power is meaningful only if the
alternatives are considered in parallel.
As to the waste disposal issue, scientists and engineers are
confident that present technology is adequate for safe disposal of
nuclear wastes. Of course, we cannot guarantee that in a thousand years'
time no-one will drill through rock and find a nuclear waste disposal
site.
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However, the risks and quantities involved are small and above
all they must be compared with the risks that we run if we produce the
electricity by coal, the other main alternative for electricity
generation. If we do that I am confident that the small amounts of
highly active wastes from nuclear plants will be preferred to the
alternative immense amounts of wastes from coal-fired plants. Few are
aware that to produce the same amount of electricity a nuclear plant will
give a smaller amount of spent fuel, which is carefully isolated from the
biosphere, than the poisonous heavy metals including cadmium, lead and
vanadium set free by a coal-burning plant. I am not ignoring the fact
that it is possible to remove most sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide
from the atmospheric emissions of coal plants and what has been achieved