ABSTRACT
On Saturday 26th April an event took place that was to have a major influence on the global nuclear debate. Nuclear power and radioactivity have long been topics which raise strong passions. The rise of the peace and green movements, and the growth of more radical environmentalism, flourish in the antagomism felt over state commitments to military and civil nuclear technology. The task of containing the future of nuclear energy is manageable though a lot of attention would have to be given to environmental appraisal, community compensation and long term economic encouragement to local economic enterprise. The advanced gas cooled reactor experience began to raise doubts about the cost effectiveness of nuclear power, and about the accountability of the nuclear industry to public opinion and democratic parliamentary procedures. Scientific valuations of nuclear related dangers no longer command unquestioning public acquiescience.
