Atomkraft, Ja!

Angela Merkel's coalition government has agreed to extend the lifespans of Germany's nuclear power plants. We should be doing the same.

Nuclear power is not perfect, obviously, but then no power source is. Given the rate that we are using up our gas reserves and the volatility of imported Russian and Central Asian gas, we cannot afford to risk our energy security relying on countries we do not trust. Coal is just too dirty, and we are already over reliant on it as it is. Wind power is a great idea, and we need to seriously invest in large scale off-shore wind farms, but to pretend that this will be able to replace our reliance on gas or coal is to overestimate its current potential. Other renewables like tidal power and solar power are great but just won't generate enough power in their current forms. Oil, like coal, is dirty, and we are again faced with energy security issues not just in that it comes from unreliable and unstable areas but also in that its cost can be prohibitive.

Merkel has increased the amount of money the government invests in renewable energy sources, which is great news as huge investment is needed to turn these useful concepts into real sources of power. For the moment, however, nuclear power is the best way forward. It is very important that in acknowledging the problems of nuclear power and striving to improve the viability of renewables that we don't prematurely decommission our nuclear power stations. Securing energy is one of the fundamental priorities for any government, and it's vital not to put all your resources into one technology.