David Fuller's view I do not doubt that uranium will be a 'metal of tomorrow', although I think it will be a distant tomorrow. Today, nuclear reactors face too many problems. The old nuclear reactors, which still dominate the industry, are out of date technologically, past their 'sell by' date, and leaky. The waste disposable problem is appalling because there is still no real disposal. Instead, countries with nuclear reactors can do no more than store increasing amounts of the world's most toxic waste, handing this dangerous problem on to countless future generations.

However the industry is not sitting still. Various new nuclear plants are more reliable, although very expensive and building them is a lengthy process. Moreover, there is still no solution to the nuclear waste problem, although Bill Gates and others are working on it. Worryingly, some scientists say it will be impossible to render waste from nuclear power stations harmless. I lack the knowledge to know if they are right, but that pessimistic view does not sound very scientific to me.


Meanwhile, nuclear power has been further sidelined by the two biggest energy developments of recent years: 1) commercially viable fracking for oil and especially natural gas; 2) rapid developments in solar technology which are making it increasingly competitive and also appealing as the most effective renewable technology.