Writing in the Town and Country Planning Association’s Journal, Professor Andrew Blowers, in the first of two articles, argues that the case for nuclear power is flawed. The case for nuclear energy is based on two simple and seemingly incontrovertible claims. One is that ‘We need nuclear energy to stop the lights from going out’; the other that ‘We must have nuclear energy to save the planet’. In this, the first of two articles, I shall attempt to refute these claims and argue the contrary; that we can keep the lights on and tackle the problem of climate change without nuclear energy. Indeed, any further commitment to nuclear energy is more likely to hinder than help achieving those objectives. The full article can be found here: