Broomsticks & Owls - Poll of the Month

[Phoenix in the Ashes]

Welcome to the Broomsticks & Owls Poll of the Month!

Every month, starting from February 2006, BaO members will have a chance to vote in a special poll, chosen by yourselves.

So start thinking of ideas for polls, and PM a moderator or post about them here.

Happy voting!

-PITA-

[Paul]

How about one about nuclear power? I'm not sure if things are the same in the USA or other places but there's a lot of news at the moment about gas prices skyrocketing here in England. With the pollution caused by oil and coal, plus the fact that all of these resources will eventually run out, is nuclear power a good solution in the short-term whilst the world figures out how to produce 100% renewable energy from other sources?

[Phoenix in the Ashes]

Good idea!

And it's now up there.

[Phinea Rogue]

I think that using nuclear power may be a good solution, I don't find it dangerous, but there's one big problem - the nuclear waste. What to do with it?

[White Bumblebee]

I believe that nuclear power is a terrible way- what about the environment?
The nuclear waste is deadly, we should use wind powered generators that create NO waste!

[White Bumblebee]

Oh, & QA says that we just shouldn't make nuclear waste at all- it takes millions of years to decompose

[Scellanis]

I think those wind farms are the best option but noone ever wants them anywhere which is stupid because they will moan for hours about how they don't want nuclear energy but when provided with the alternative they wont let them get built...anyone would think they didn't want electricity at all. And before anyone says it about me yes I would have them as my view, I don't see what the problem is..there is actually a wind farm near me anyway in the Solway firth.

[Phoenix in the Ashes]

I always wondered why, if the wind farms were so clearly successful, didn't really use up any natural resources (except the land it took to built them over) and really the only problem is noise and the s[ace, why they weren't more widely used.

They always seemed to me like the best solution...

[White Bumblebee]

I am glad that you agree with me.(did you mean space)

[Scellanis]

Its the noise they cause and the whole spoils my view thing that prevents them getting built. Its the problem you get with anything like that, people think they are a good idea but noone ever wants them next door.

[White Bumblebee]

I don't think they are ugly I would rarther have one of those than a nuclier power plant next door.

[Scellanis]

I know, same here...but noone else seems to think like that. Instead of just asking for permission they ought to give people the choice of nuclear or wind next door and force them to choose one or the other...that would get some built.

[Paul]

I've never seen a wind-farm in real life but on the television I think they look quite nice. The idea about putting nuclear power plants in places where the local residents have rejected a wind farm is perfect.

Even today (um, yesterday...Thursday anyway) it was announced that the UK government has decided to capitulate to protesters and rejected a plan to build 27 wind turbines which would provide enough power for 47,000 homes.

I can't believe that some so-called environmentalists are actually against wind farms. David Bellamy for example has threatened to chain himself to one in protest. Err, ok, let him - that's his choice. Hope he realises it can get get pretty chilly out on those windy hills at night.

I'd really prefer it if wind power and similar energies were able to quickly take over from coal, oil and gas but I just have a horrible feeling that at the slow speed things seem to be moving toward totally renewable energy, it's going to be too slow and either there's going to be disaster by way of global warming (or cooling in a "Day After Tomorrow" scenario), or gas, then oil, then coal will run out one by one, causing economic meltdown and collapse of society....or both will happen.

Yes, there are potential problems with nuclear power and the nuclear waste produced. It's certainly not a perfect solution but as a stop-gap until we can go 100% naturally renewable, I think the potential problems are outweighed by the global disaster that could occur if we continue to use carbon-based energy at the current (and increasing) rate.

[Phoenix in the Ashes]

The idea about putting nuclear power plants in places where the local residents have rejected a wind farm is perfect.

Certainly might give them a wake-up call, yeah...

I'm confident that... eventually they'll find an efficient, low noise, low waste, low space source of energy.

Just because we'll have to, to live.

And life such as us seems to have an uncanny ability to put off death for as long as possible.

Extinction, or living?

We'll be forced to choose sometime.

[Caitlin Pierce]

I believe that nuclear power is a terrible way- what about the environment?
The nuclear waste is deadly, we should use wind powered generators that create NO waste!

i simply cannot believe that you discount nuclear power on account of the environment, the power sources we have utilised, not without some success might i add over the past 200 years have produced more dangerous gases than nuclear power ever would. of course there are safe ways of getting rid of nuclear waste, we are not living in the dark ages! i have seen dozens of wind farm and frankly they are vile to look at, totally hideous and yes, when working at full pelt they can generate sufficiant energy to cover a certain percentage of homes. AT full energy but they are rarely, if ever, at full energy. if you want to plonk a nuclear power plant anywhere near me, go right ahead. smack one right in the centre of cornwall. i have been to a famous power plant in Dorset which you cannot SEE unless you are literally on top of it. it's amazing and has not caused one iota of problems to the locals who live in some of the highest priced houses in the county.
we are not about to suddenly suffer a 'day after tomorrow' scenario, that film was pure scaremongering. one volcanic eruption causes more dangerous and environmently damaging gus expulsions in one hour than we have caused in the last 20 years. should we start plugging up the volcanoes? mother earth has survived bigger problems than us in the last couple millenia, i think she can cope with some petrol fumes.
the number of times i have passed through nottingham and heard people saying, 'ohh look at all the smoke coming out of those chimneys, its awful' makes me want to scream. they are not 'chimneys' they are cooling towers, it isnt smoke, it's steam. jeez people.
people will quote the nuclear disater at Chernobyl until they are blue in the face in order to negate the usefullness of nuclear energy which is 100% renewable btw. yes, it was a tragic tragic accident. but may i reiterate, NOT caused by nuclear power, but by faulty building, poor managment and an atrocious lack of knowledge. it happened 20 years ago. since then (in fact at that time) we in the west had the reactor designs which were so safe that the Chernobyl accident should NEVER have happened. 28 people died, 19 have died since, in total there have been 56 fatalities, that is a tiny number of people in comparison to those who suffered in the Coal Mines, were they shut because of the danger? no, they were shut because they were economically damaging. the UN report stated that there is no significant radiation related health effects to most people exposed to the radiation, this was later confirmed by an extensive study last year, extensive studies HAVE shown that coal dust caused various debilitating lung illnesses. they will then go onto say, 'well nuclear bombs are awful' yes they are, but the military were using nuclear power long before it became a civilian enterprise. it is a totally different way of using the power source, utterly unrelated. many of the modern inventions we take for granted these days were created in times of war, deal with it.
Nuclear power is the cleanest way of survival for us at this moment in time.
at the moment there are NO, i repeat NO permanent disposal dumps for nuclear waste. 96% of the waste goes into re-processing and is RE USED. (isnt that what we are striving for) if you actually have a desire to know what you're talking about when you rabbit on about how 'bad' nuclear waste is and how we should all stick a wind turbine on our roofs please read this http://www.world-nuclear.org/education/wast.htm and educate yourself!