Chernobyl and the Nuclear Debate April 26, 2006

With the nuclear energy debate at boiling point, the memory of the Chernobyl disaster couldn't be more relevant. The Dana Centre links up live to the Ukraine to hear from a scientist looking at the legacy of the world's worst nuclear accident.

Has the damage of the disaster been exaggerated? Is nuclear power the best way to counter climate change? Or is it too risky to consider?

As the existing reactors come to the end of their life spans and the surrounding debate revives, the nuclear industry has come under fierce criticism, but has found some unlikely allies as well.

Johnny Ball has become a strong and serious voice supporting nuclear power. He will be joined by Keith Barnham who claims that solar panels can do away with nuclear for good.

When nuclear power was first being realised, it was famously declared that one day it would be too cheep to meter. Since then controversy, disaster and the problems of decommissioning have flown in the face of such optimism.

Today the debate centres on global warming. Is the risk of another Chernobyl-type disaster eclipsed by the threat posed by climate change? Do nuclear power plants really help reduce carbon emissions? And with nuclear power currently providing 16% of the world's energy needs, how could we live without it?

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