The nuke infatuation

These past few days have been inspiring. First, world leaders gathered at the climate change summit in New York, and now more have gathered at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh. This of course contributed to directing more people’s attention to the climate change issue.

Although it is welcome to see that more and more “channels” are communicating the need for going green, there is something about this movement that really worries me – The infatuation with nuclear power. For instance, the latest blog post on Carl Bildt’s blog reads: “…Allt fler länder kommer – inte minst mot bakgrund av klimatfrågan – att bygga ut kärnkraften….”

Of course it is absolutely critical that we combat the climate change. And, hence, reducing the global emissions of CO2 is key. No question about it. But… if the only way to succeed with this is by relying on nuclear power, this makes me worried. At least I have gotten the impression that the scientists still don’t know how to deal with the waste yet..At least I remain skeptical to how “advanced” todays technology really is.. There is no need for me to start arguing about the risks involved with nuclear power. The history books speak for themselves.

What I'm saying is that there has to be better alternatives than nuclear power (that are also profitable). In fact, in the latest issue of the Harvard Business Review, there is a lot of focus on green technologies and sustainable innovations. More articles on these issues ought to get out to people outside the scholar society. More research needs to be done in disciplines like business, law, education, engineering etc.. The research that has already been published need to get out to the public. There are tremendous opportunities for journals, magazines, TV shows here. /Robert