Nuclear power may come at a very steep price
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Can anyone still say that nuclear power is low cost, in comparison to solar or wind?Perhaps the answer is contingent on one's definition of "cost". Granted, there's the cost of building infrastructure, fuel, security and insurance.
But cost can also be gauged in terms of harm to the environment and social costs of relocating whole towns. There are also costs of toxic oceans, radiated regions condemned for 60,000 years, radiation wafting on to neighbouring regions, costs of dealing responsibly with waste and the eventual decommissioning of facilities. As if that’s not enough, there are also costs of harming other species, loss of farming revenue, increased possibilities of social and political upheaval.
Yet, Egat plans to build two nuclear plants somewhere along the Kingdom’s coast – they won’t specify where. Can Thailand really afford the cost? We’re not talking about how much is needed to build/fuel/insure and safeguard the facilities, but rather the potential costs if things go wrong.
Ken Albertsen
Bangkok
