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lunes, 13 de agosto de 2012

7 Reasons why nuclear power is bad for the environment and the nation

Nuclear Power Plant
Nuclear Power Plant
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The industry of big energy has been at it again, pushing government officials to allow for more options that will put money in their pockets even though it will have a negative back lash for the country. With their new lobbying and ad campaigns pushing for this new energy that they claim will save us from of our economic and environmental ills, are they really dealing honestly with us? The truth is nuclear power is dangerous, costly, and will create more problems that it could ever hope to solve. Here is the truth about nuclear power and seven reasons why nuclear power is bad for the environment and for the nation.

  1. Nuclear power is extremely costly. Building or restarting the number of nuclear power plants that the industry is pushing for would cost trillions of dollars. For example, there was an estimate created by the Florida Power and Light company to create a new reactor plant with a price tag of between $12 and $18 billion dollars for a single project. This sticker shock would be passed on to consumers already struggling in a weak economy.

  2. Nuclear Power Will not Reduce our Dependency on Middle East Oil Supplies: One of the arguments used to support nuclear power is that it will reduce our oil use. This is simply not true because most of the oil that we use is for gas in our automobiles and nuclear power has nothing to do with that since it is producing electricity not fuel.

  3. Nuclear Power Contaminates Water Supplies: Cases of water contamination with radioactive substances has occurred around over a dozen different nuclear sites around the country. The process of mining materials used in nuclear power plants such as uranium and titanium run a very high risk of water contamination to near by rivers and streams as well as ground water supplies.

  4. There is No Safe Way to Mine, Store, or Process Nuclear Materials: Even though energy moguls claim that nuclear energy is safe, the truth is that there is no guaranteed safe means for containment of nuclear materials. The risk of an accident and exposure increase exponentially through each step in the process of mining, transportation, storage, refinement, and use or nuclear power which then leaves you with enormous amounts of nuclear waste that must be contained and disposed of. Every step of this process carries great risk for the environment and the community.
  5. Nuclear Power Will Not Reduce Carbon Emissions: While the plant itself at the point of producing energy may not be emitting as much carbon pollution as a coal plant, it does create equal or greater amounts of carbon emissions during the entire process leading up to that point.

  6. Exposure to the Radioactive Material Can Be Deadly, Causing Health Problems and Cancer: Through the history of nuclear disasters we have had a living lab to see the numbers of deaths caused by nuclear power plants along with infertility, health problems, and deadly cancers among people in communities even far away from the original site.

  7. Viable Sources of Clean Renewable Energy Already Exist: We already have the technology available for clean and renewable forms of safe energy that have lower costs than nuclear power including wind and solar which could create thousands of new jobs, boost the economy, and give us a safer solution for the future.

Regardless of what sort of spin job the industry tries to put on nuclear power, it is bad for the environment, bad for our health, and wrong for America.

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