Bowie encouraged us to embrace our differences

I was writing this column on the day we received the sad news that David Bowie has passed away.
Rock icon David BowieRock icon David Bowie
Rock icon David Bowie

David Bowie was a legend and an inspiration to many. His creativity taught a generation to embrace their differences, which is something we can teach our young people today. My thoughts are with his family at this sad time.

The other Friday I was invited to the National Nuclear Laboratory at Sellafield in my role as chair of the Parliamentary Space Committee.

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Many of you will already know I have a strong interest in nuclear technology, not only for new build power stations but also new uses for the by-products of nuclear power.

David Morris MPDavid Morris MP
David Morris MP

You may remember the work I did on getting a licence for americium 248 to be exported, and the meeting I had with the team at NNL updated me on their current work with this.

The first project being to create a pellet which can be used to power satellites and space explorers to parts of planets we did not think we would be able to explore as currently space stations and craft use solar power when they are in space.

This gives a potentially huge market for what is essentially a waste product at the moment.

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On the other side, I also engaged in talks on small modular nuclear reactors and how near to type approval the laboratory felt different versions of these reactors where.

David Morris MPDavid Morris MP
David Morris MP

There is obviously some more work to do finalising these approvals and I will be applying for an adjournment debate to discuss this further in Parliament with the Energy Minister.

As part of the visit I was also given a tour of their laboratory which allows them to safely carry our experiments on nuclear material to discover new uses for nuclear waste.

This is done on an extremely small scale and I was impressed by their attention to safety and process in the lab.

If you have an issue and would like to do so you can contact me by email [email protected] or by phone 01524 841225.

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