Wilson Power Solutions

The Mighty Atom - now I’ve started shall I continue?

When I was a schoolboy a few years ago – in the late 40’s/early 50’s if you must know – we used to frequently get regaled with the triumphs of British Technology.

The coronation in 1953 saw a UK climber (alright New Zealander really but who is going to complain about a few miles down the road) and his Sherpa companion conquer Everest and the dawn of the new Elizabethan age was declared.

In Power Engineering, UK manufacturing was still a force to be reckoned with and the Nuclear Age had arrived. Sellafield was there to quietly produce Plutonium so that the UK foreign ministers ‘did not go naked into world’s council chambers’ when nuclear warheads and strikes were discussed and the new Queen opened Calder Hall – promoted as the first commercial nuclear power station in the world.

At the time I heard responsible scientists and engineers proclaim that the energy produced by nuclear reactors would be ’so cheap it would hardly be worthwhile sending a bill out for it’.

Even as late as mid 70’s the then Chairman of Yorkshire Electricity Board was still peddling the same story at an I E E Dinner in Leeds – no mention of the rubbish even at that time left behind in the nuclear dustbin to pollute the environment.

Strange that as we now reflect on the huge costs of dealing with the leftovers of that fledgling nuclear industry and also ponder moving into the next nuclear age – again to save ourselves from an energy famine and keep the air clean. This time the general public are a little more informed about consequences, ‘how green is my nuclear dustbin and how many generations will pass and disappear before the radio active remnants can be removed ?’

No doubt the scientists and engineers of the 1950’s realized the dream which ultimately turned into a nightmare but with alternatives running down or not desirable because of the carbon footprint, renewables not able to provide base load satisfactorily we appear to have little recourse but to take a walk with the nuclear demon again.

Will it be cheap – don’t believe it; but then almost every other energy source is expensive too and will cost more, probably a lot more ….so two sweaters or a good old fashioned heavy coat and woolly gloves will be the order of the day. Just like the lovely lady who used to run a farm all by herself deep in the Yorkshire Dales without any modern power and little heat; or the scenarios from films set in times when the concept of central heating did not exist – perhaps you thought thick curtains around a 4 poster bed was just for privacy not draughts!

I was able to visit the site at Sellafield this May to see the former glory – much of the original infra structure is de commissioned and dismantled or encased. Work proceeds on the modern plant to re process spent fuel. The adjacent power station (Calder Hall) is shut down and awaits demolition; present power requirements at site are fed from a gas fired source – the final ignominy perhaps.

Now we hear that the fortunes of the industry will be taken over by EDF, Electricitie de France, a nationalized concern controlled by the French Government instead of a UK authority. Mon Dieu, could this perhaps stimulate the great Wellington to oscillate a little in his lead lined coffin. For the Brits ‘sic transit gloria mundi’ as they say.

Have you the intelligent reader any thoughts or comments?

Bob Bennett

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 at 9:26 am and is filed under Misc. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.