Is nuclear power the answer?
Within sight of the Wittenham Clumps are two major facilities where research has been looking at large scale sustainable nuclear energy.
Harwell
West of Didcot, Harwell became the site of Britain’s postwar research into the peaceful uses of atomic energy. Three experimental fission reactors were built (DIDO, PLUTO and GLEEP) producing energy from the splitting (fission) of uranium atoms.
Diamond Facility
As the nuclear power industry matured, these reactors were closed down in 1990. GLEEP had an energy output of just 3 KiloWatts. From 2006 the site will be home to the imposing (561 m diameter) Diamond facility, a synchrotron radiation source which will be used to investigate the molecular structure of materials.
Nuclear Fission
The first British nuclear fission power station began operation in 1956. Now, some 16 of them produce a quarter of total national power supply. Most will reach the end of their working lives by the early 2020s.
Since the Chernobyl accident of 1986, public concerns about radiation leaks and the disposal of spent radioactive fuel have halted any plans to build new ones.
Nuclear energy in France
In France 75% of the electricity is safely produced from nuclear power. In France 75% of the electricity is produced from nuclear power, which produces no CO2.
Will nuclear fusion power be viable in the longer term?
JET at Culham
Research on nuclear fusion and plasma physics is carried out at Culham, north of Long Wittenham, where JET, the Joint European Torus, is the world’s largest largest nuclear fusion research facility.
JET is looking at fusion’s potential as a safe,clean and virtually limitless energy source for future generations. Energy is produced as isotopes of hydrogen are forced to combine at very high temperatures, within a gas plasma. Within a few decades (by 2050), experimental fusion power stations should have sustainable outputs of hundreds of megawatts.
Nuclear fusion emissions
Unlike conventional nuclear power stations, nuclear fusion power stations will not carry a significant risk of radioactive emissions in the event of an accident. The radio-toxicity of a fusion power station's waste materials decays rapidly, and they present no accumulating or long-term burden on future generations.
http://www.ukaea.org.uk/harwell
http://www.fusion.org.uk/culham http://fusion.org.uk/focus/index.htm
http://www.jet.efda.org/
