Whenever I hear someone claim that nuclear power is “carbon free” I start to get violent urges … I find myself wanting to punch the TV or radio….
The reason is this; tell me what carbon free technologies you are going to use to mine the uranium, transport it to the nuclear power station, then take the waste away and safely store it for the hundred thousand years it will take to become safe.
What’s that you say…. you only meant to say that the actual generation process produces no carbon? – you didn’t mean that the entire lifecycle of producing fuel doesn’t produce any?
Well guess what – the universe doesn’t care about your motives; only results matter!
Any analysis of the mining and transportation of uranium and the transport and storage of nuclear waste will ALWAYS show carbon being produced until and unless we have 100% carbon free transport and storage!
So – we not only have to content with the nuclear waste produced by this process, but also the carbon it vomits forth… does anyone out there STILL want to press for nuclear power?