Beg pardon if my earlier comment was taken as do not build a barrage.
I was not adopting a pro or anti stance on either nuclear or barrage schemes, merely pointing out some of the downsides of large water based projects.
What I was trying to point up was the law of unintended consequences and to advise caution under what Barney refers to as pragmatism.
It would be a damm sight more than a few birds, it
could be the silting up of the severn estuary, how well would a barrage work then? My abiding memory of that estuary is of brown silty water sluicing past, slow it down and guess what will happen to the silt, that's right it gets deposited. 2026 news, of todays generated power 33% went to dredging out accumulated silt and transporting it for costal reclamation work in Holland and East Anglia to allow the barrage to work beyond 2030.
Regardless of impacts upon ourselves, Man does not have the right to usurp all other species places in this world. Just because we are able to do a particular thing does not mean it is the right thing. Many times over mankinds recent history we can see clear and simple demand for a particular resource. this is allowed to be satisfied, then when the resource is gone or dedicated to that need, OH dear we needed that for this other far more important need and we cannot have it now.
In Brazil there is a clear need for agricultural land, so people clear the rain forest, grow some crops, rain falls, no trees to hold the soil in place with their roots, so away it goes with the runoff and all the people have left is bare rock or subsoil.
No forest, no animals, no birds, no crops, no living.
Here is the south east one of our most precious resources is water and over the course of my life I have seen farmers, water boards and government agencies conspire to speed the progress of rainfall out to sea without any thought to our need for drinking water, just a desire to avoid flooding of houses built on flood plains. Now with even more houses here there is a need for water, to drink, wash etc. Oh dear we did away with all those woods, ponds, hedges, ditches, meandering streams and it cannot slowly soak in, it rushes away too quickly.
Before I get accused of tree hugging, no I do not think that "a few birds" should prevent something happening, but if they are the last few birds of that species then we should make damm sure that we aid that species to exisit in other places (successfully) before we deprive them of what they need so we can have what we want.
To close, safety is addressed in nuclear power generation from the working with hazardous materials, plant maintenance and employee stupidity angles, however Richard, you omit from your critique the worst aspect of Nuclear power in this day and age, which frankly scares me witless, that is security. We are probably closer in agreement against nuclear than you think, but for differing reasons.
You or I would be prevented from getting very far, but, are these plants around the western world guarded by soldiers with loaded guns, do naval vessels patrol off shore, are the buildings "hard enough" to withstand an airplane crash. Could lunatics armed with guns and explosives cause a nuclear breach.
Would some hard up former soviet sell a drum from his storgae facility.......
