No Nukes

[G_j]

I left the author's name out of the subject line, to avoid unnecessary flames.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/02/13
Published on Saturday, February 13, 2010 by CommonDreams.org

No Nukes
by Ralph Nader

A generation of Americans has grown up without a single nuclear power plant being brought on line since before the near meltdown of the Three Mile Island structure in 1979. They have not been exposed to the enormous costs, risks and national security dangers associated with their operations and the large amount of radioactive wastes still without a safe, permanent storage place for tens of thousands of years.

All Americans better get informed soon, for a resurgent atomic power lobby wants the taxpayers to pick up the tab for relaunching this industry. Unless you get Congress to stop this insanely dirty and complex way to boil water to generate steam for electricity, you'll be paying for the industry's research, the industry's loan guarantees and the estimated trillion dollars (inflation-adjusted) cost of just one meltdown, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, plus vast immediate and long-range casualties.

The Russian roulette-playing nuclear industry claims a class nine meltdown will never happen. That none of the thousands of rail cars, trucks and barges with radioactive wastes will ever have a catastrophic accident. That terrorists will forgo striking a nuclear plant or hijacking deadly materials, and go for far less consequential disasters.

The worst nuclear reactor accident occurred in 1986 at Chernobyl in what is now Ukraine. Although of a different design than most U.S. reactors, the resultant breach of containment released a radioactive cloud that spread around the globe but concentrated most intensively in Belarus, Ukraine and European Russia and secondarily over 40% of Europe.

For different reasons, both governmental and commercial interests were intent on downplaying both the immediate radioactively-caused deaths and diseases and the longer term devastations from this silent, invisible form of violence. They also were not eager to fund follow up monitoring and research.

..more..

[LWolf]

1. He's right. nt

[G_j]

2. Hi LWolf

:hi:
I wish I could give you a heart, but I'll sent you an invisible one anyway.

:loveya:

[LWolf]

11. Same to you, friend.

:hi:

My budget is nonexistent these days. My heart is full of all those who still stand for peace, love, and understanding.

:hug:

[ensho]

3. true

nt

[Statistical]

4. No nukes = pro coal.

The power companies have a 30 year history of building coal plants instead of nuclear energy.

So unless you outlaw coal prohibiting nukes is simply asking the utilities to build hundreds more coal plants.

[SidDithers]

5. +1...nt

Sid

[Lothrop]

7. Not necessarily

What's needed is a restructuring of our economic and political organizations and then we must move towards lower energy living arrangements.

[G_j]

8. lower energy living

really is the ONLY overall solution.

welcome to DU

[ensho]

9. no its not. we shouldn't build any more coal plants either!

no new coal or nuke plants.

[G_j]

10. agreed

I feel like the either coal or nukes meme is more like blackmail.

[Statistical]

13. Shouldn't isn't same thing as won't

We have 30 years of history. If the absence of new nuclear generation utilties devoted 90% of resource into burning coal.

Today coal is legal.
Today carbon is untaxed.
Today you prohibit nuclear power and utilities will simply build more coal plants.

[LWolf]

12. I support outlawing both. nt

[madokie]

6. I say no nukes

[Pavulon]

14. Pray, we can miracle up the energy we need. That scary Sun nuclear reactor

must also be stopped. It will kill us all one day, for sure.

See US Navy, build standard reactors, dump the shit in nevada and call it a day.

Lived next to reactors for decades, no problems. Just really cheap power.

[G_j]

15. that sort of sarcasm

gets old. Yea, the Sun is a nuclear reactor, would you like to visit it?

just dump it in Nevada and call it day?

yikes!

[Pavulon]

16. We nuked nevada, many times.

they can deal with a waste dump. Best choice out of the technology available now or in the next ten years.

[G_j]

17. *