Having spent years campaigning against nuclear power stations, it was odd to find ourselves inside one today (left), taking a tour and discussing energy policy with the team at Hunterston.The place itself is extraordinary: a layer of 1950s technology (including the control stations), a layer of 1970s technology, then laptops and the odd bit of more recent cruft. No doughnuts, though.
For all the complex arguments to and fro about nuclear, it's pretty clear when you go round that this is the most complicated and risky way yet invented to make power, however many layers of safety procedures they put in.
The good news for the nice people we met today, though, is that we'll need all their skills to help us decommission these beasts when their life extensions run out. The sooner the better.
Leave a comment