The Ethical Funds Company has issued a statement highlighting the concern it has with the possible use of nuclear energy to combat global warming.

“The Ethical Funds Company is encouraged to see the Conservative Government’s new focus on the environment and we welcome the commitment of $230 million over the next four years for research into clean energy,” it said in a statement released Friday in response to the federal Government’s ecoEnergy Technology Initiative.

“However, we do have concerns about the inclusion of a focus on nuclear energy in this plan. In our opinion, nuclear energy carries too many risks to qualify as a sustainable investment,” it adds.

The firm also published a white paper that looks at the risks of nuclear power. The paper argues that, “the case for nuclear power remains far from ompelling”. It maintains that: nuclear power is not financially sustainable, nuclear power is not safe enough, the disposal of nuclear waste is in question, nuclear weapons proliferation would become even more of a problem, and that there are better options including conservation, existing renewable energy technologies, and carbon capture and storage.

“Nuclear power need not be part of our future energy mix. For these reasons, The Ethical Funds Company will continue to exclude uranium mining companies and companies generating nuclear power from our funds,” it concludes.

“We were motivated to publish this white paper by recent claims that nuclear power can serve as a primary strategy for fighting climate change. In our view, these claims do not take into account the significant environmental, social and political challenges and risks associated with nuclear power,” it said.