Why does the Green Party oppose nuclear energy and HS2?

[yorksrob]

Nuclear is entirely necessary to provide a base load of electricity. The country should be rebuilding its own nuclear industry, not going cap in hand to Communists.

HS2 is a nice to have, but not if it means running the rest of the network into the ground to pay for it (which seems to be where the treasury is taking us).

 

[tomuk]

I don't know in which world you are living in, but we recycle them for years now.

You don't recycle them. At best the aluminium frames are removed and recycled. The actual panels can't be recycled, the are ground down and incinerated. The resultant waste glass is nearly worthless and is either landfilled or used in construction materials as an aggregate substitute.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Jul 2023 ==

Nuclear is entirely necessary to provide a base load of electricity. The country should be rebuilding its own nuclear industry, not going cap in hand to Communists.

It hasn't gone cap in hand to communists from a technology perspective the Hinckley reactors are French and the other touted schemes at the time were Japanese\American.

We have accepted Chinese money to pay for the rectors they are a 33% owned by China General Nuclear. Well EDF have actually taken the money as due to the way the plant is financed we don't pay anything until the plant is producing electricity

 

[yorksrob]

You don't recycle them. At best the aluminium frames are removed and recycled. The actual panels can't be recycled, the are ground down and incinerated. The resultant waste glass is nearly worthless and is either landfilled or used in construction materials as an aggregate substitute.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Jul 2023 ==


It hasn't gone cap in hand to communists from a technology perspective the Hinckley reactors are French and the other touted schemes at the time were Japanese\American.

We have accepted Chinese money to pay for the rectors they are a 33% owned by China General Nuclear. Well EDF have actually taken the money as due to the way the plant is financed we don't pay anything until the plant is producing electricity

I can live more easily with the French and Americans, but we should really be rebuilding our own nuclear industry, rather than relying on others.

It's shocking that our capability was flogged off (this time under new labour)

 

[bahnause]

You don't recycle them. At best the aluminium frames are removed and recycled. The actual panels can't be recycled, the are ground down and incinerated. The resultant waste glass is nearly worthless and is either landfilled or used in construction materials as an aggregate substitute.

The recycling rate for solar modules today is more than 95% (as of 2022). This means that more than 95% of all raw materials used in photovoltaic systems can be reused.

 

[tomuk]

The recycling rate for solar modules today is more than 95% (as of 2022). This means that more than 95% of all raw materials used in photovoltaic systems can be reused.

Unless you can provide a link to actual figures I think you are confusing the ability to reuse the materials in a panel with what actually happens to them today.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Jul 2023 ==

I can live more easily with the French and Americans, but we should really be rebuilding our own nuclear industry, rather than relying on others.

It's shocking that our capability was flogged off (this time under new labour)

We still have capability see Rolls Royce and Small Modular Reactors.

In terms of selling off our capability it wasn't really our capability as that had already been 'closed down'. BNFL bought up amongst others the American Westinghouse company when those nuclear assets were to a degree unwanted. Luckily we got out when we did and sold the lot to Toshiba at a profit. The poor performance of that business in the longer-term has led to the collapse of Toshiba and the bankruptcy of the Westinghouse nuclear division.

 

[yorksrob]

In terms of selling off our capability it wasn't really our capability as that had already been 'closed down'. BNFL bought up amongst others the American Westinghouse company when those nuclear assets were to a degree unwanted. Luckily we got out when we did and sold the lot to Toshiba at a profit. The poor performance of that business in the longer-term has led to the collapse of Toshiba and the bankruptcy of the Westinghouse nuclear division.

And yet, we still need nuclear power to supply our basic needs.

If the state had been more interested in building for the countries basic needs, rather than flogging everything off, we'd be better placed now.

 

[nw1]

I can see why the Greens might oppose these things.

Firstly, one argument (which I will sit on the fence about, as I can see both sides) is that we don't "need" HS2 and could instead just continue to use the WCML as we always have done.

Secondly, and again I am on the fence on this, is that nuclear energy does produce waste which has to be dealt with. And of course disasters such as Chernobyl and Fukushima are well-known.

As I said I am sitting on the fence over both issues, as I can genuinely see the pros and the cons - but just trying to explain why the Greens might have the views that they do.