IQ2 (intelligence squared) is hosting a debate on the pro’s and cons of nuclear energy. It looks pretty interesting, and you can watch it live from their website.

Here is a taste from the site.

Forget earthquakes and tsunamis. The existential threat we face in Britain comes from global warming and our reliance on unsavoury and unstable regimes for our energy supplies. And there’s only one efficient way of producing energy that does not expose us to such risks: nuclear. Wind power, energy conservation, “clean coal” – they’re small potatoes, additions to the nuclear solution, not substitutes. And far more expensive, too. As for safety, modern state-of-the art reactors – ones not built on geological fault lines – will result in far less loss of life than almost any other form of energy. It’s got to be nuclear.

And yet despite the claims that newer, safer technology is just round the corner, horrific accidents keep on happening. Remember Three Mile Island? No earthquake to blame there, just human error. As for cost, nuclear’s already high price is going to rise as accidents like Fukushima bring about calls for yet more expensive safety regulations. Besides, the political, technological and economic constraints on building new nuclear power stations mean that it will take a decade or more before they come on stream, by which time all the subsidies that could have gone into developing low carbon alternatives will have been gobbled up by the nuclear lobby. It’s got to be nuclear? Only if you’re intent on national suicide.

These are the fault lines on which the arguments over nuclear lie – and even the environmentalists can’t agree amongst themselves. Come and hear the experts on April 26th, add your views to the debate and decide for yourself where to place your vote.

At the end of the debate there will be a vote, so tune in, listen, and if let them know who you felt was the most compelling side. I will refrain from giving you my opinion on nuclear energy (but if you search this site you can get clues), but I have watched debates put on by this organization before and they are always a good time.

if you happen to live in the UK you can even pop in and see it in person.

It’s got to be nuclear

Thursday April 14th, 2011

Doors open at 6pm. The debate starts at 6.45pm and finishes at 8.30pm.