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Jim Al-Khalili talks to Sue Ion about working in the nuclear industry in the dark decades post-Chernobyl, and why nuclear power has to be part of our energy mix for the future.

Jim Al-Khalili talks to the former technical director of British Nuclear Fuels, Dame Sue Ion, about a lifetime of working in the nuclear industry. When Sue got her first job at a nuclear fuel fabrication plant in Preston, nuclear power was generally seen as force for good but, during the dark decades post Chernobyl, it was a hard sell. Still, Sue continued to push for investment and innovation in the industry and in 2006 persuaded Tony Blair to change his mind about nuclear power, insisting that if Britain is to have any chance at all of keeping the lights on and cutting its carbon emissions, we will need to invest heavily not only in renewables like offshore wind but also in a new generation of nuclear power stations.

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28 minutes

Last on

Tue 26 Feb 2013 21:30

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  • Tue 26 Feb 2013 09:00
  • Tue 26 Feb 2013 21:30

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