W: What' s the advantage of using nuclear power in the generation of elec-tricity?
M: In an advanced reactor, as much electricity can be made from one ton of enriched uranium fuel as from 75,000 tons of coal.
W: Then you need only a few lorry loads of fuel at a nuclear power station instead of many trains of coal.
M: Exactly!
W: With coal you have a residue of ash. What about the used fuel from anuclear-powered station?
W: Well, being radioactive, it can' t be left lying around.
M: So how do you dispose of it?
M: It' s loaded into thick steel flasks each weighing 45 tons. They' re dis-patched to the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority for reprocess-ing.
W: So there' s little actual wastage?
M: But that doesn't eliminate cost. The reprocessing isn't done for nothing.
W: But electricity from a nuclear-powered station is cheaper than from a coal-fired plant, isn't it?
M: Well, the cost of operation of nuclear stations is only half the cost of even the least expensive coal-fired stations. And later on the figures will show an even greater advantage for nuclear energy.
W: But don' t nuclear stations cost more to build?
M: Yes, they do. However, their cheaper running gains more than offsets the construction costs.
W: And aren't the nuclear stations cleaner in operation?
M: Yes, and they're better looking than conventional stations and can be built in places unsuitable for conventional plants. In most cases, they are safe.