In total there were 32 members and guests present a very informal but informative talk on the history and future of Nuclear Power usage for the generation of electricity. The lecturer, Mr. Mike Bennett, a retired Design Engineer has had a long association with the nuclear power industry from the early Windscale Power Station up until the present. He initially explained the difference between the "Fusion" and "Fission" reaction and the amount of heat generated by each process, illustrating the vast increase using the "Fusion" process over the present "Fission" method but said that the former was still in its infancy and wouldn't be feasible much before 2047 or later. He also indicated that the Generation III fission reactors to be built in the UK would produce far less waste material than the present reactors and “burn” the fuel much more efficiently.
The "Fast Fission" process [Dounrey now closed] actually "Breeds" fuel and, in conjunction with reprocessing the fuel from Generation III reactors, would be 60 times more efficient than our present AGR systems. The talk proceeded with a look at the basic design of the types of power plant at present in use and the proposed new generation for plants in the process of being built and for the future. This said that the newer plants would be of modular construction enabling them to be built off site thereby speeding up the building and would be intrinsically safer and cheaper to run.
Mike then went on to explode some myths about the renewable energy programme and was rather scathing on the Government, Media and Green Lobby figures bandied about on the benefits of wind, wave and alternative forms of power generation and the supposed reduction of Carbon emissions, pointing out that normal power plants would still have to be kept on-line to maintain standby power for when the wind didn't blow sufficiently strong enough or too strongly to generate electricity. He also graphically illustrated the number of wind turbines that would be required to replace a conventional power station with an output capacity of 1000Mw which would cover an area of some 8 square miles. He indicated that although there has been a shift in the Government's stance on the use of Nuclear Power for future power stations moves would need to be implemented quickly if the country wasn't to be facing power shortages in the not to distant future. The talk finished with a lively question time.
Following the lecture the members and guest retired to the hotel restaurant for a celebratory 120 year buffet lunch, and a collection raised £38 for the Guild of Benevolence.