7 Disturbing Facts About Nuclear Power
People may argue that 25% of the world’s energy is produced through nuclear power, but what they do not understand is all the problems it brings:
1 – It costs a lot of money to setup:
If you think it costs around $6 – 12 billion just to build one reactor, a lot of wasted tax dollars have been used to subsidize these big utility companies. Why not invest that money in other renewable energy such as wind farms or solar power?
2 – It causes global warming:
Once seen as the solution to global climate change, nuclear power is far from it. Everywhere along the nuclear chain – from the mining of uranium to its transportation to the construction of the power plant – greenhouse gases are emitted.
What’s more is these reactors take years to be fully operational – wasting precious time in our fight against global warming. We could have used that time and money more wisely, such as improved research and development in solar and wind power.
3 – The bi-product is radioactive waste:
20 to 30 tonnes of highly radioactive waste is produced by just one nuclear plant every year. This excludes what the authorities like to call “low” level radioactive waste produced in the rest of the supply chain – such as during the enrichment process.
4 – It is a nuclear bomb just waiting to be detonated:
All nuclear plants are vulnerable to accidents or attacks. Nevertheless, if an accident did occur, the current evacuation plans are completely unrealistic. In addition, the Price-Anderson Act ensures the utility’s liability of an accident is limited to only $10.8 billion. This is absurd, considering a serious reactor accident could cause as much as $600 billion of damage. Once again, the balance would likely have to be paid by us, the taxpayers.
5 – Low-level radiation causes cancer:
Though authorities deem the levels of radiation emitted to be “safe”, children and other vulnerable individuals are not taken into account when reaching this conclusion. This is very irresponsible, and could lead to more cancer cases as the number of reactors increases.
We have also been misled about how safe it really is to “dispose” of all this radioactive waste. There is no scientific proof to show where the safest place to dump the waste is. And more nuclear plants would make the problem worse. There are only so many “safe” storage facilities. Any additional waste would have to be either burned or dumped in landfills – leading to air and water pollution.
6 – Nuclear technology sets the stage for atomic weapons:
If you look back at Israel’s bombing of Syria’s suspected nuclear site in 2007, and America worried about Iran’s nuclear program, nuclear development brings about the threat of a nuclear attack. Just imagine how tensions would rise as more countries increase their nuclear deployment. Not to mention the fact that the more reactors there are, the easier it is for terrorists to get their hands on nuclear materials.
7 – There are better power options:
What frustrates us is that we we should rather be spending our time and money on the development of safer, cleaner, renewable energy solutions, such as erecting more solar plants and wind farms. Hopefully with Obama’s administration, nuclear energy will be phased out and largely replaced with the implementation of renewable energy.
But why wait for the country to start looking at renewable energy more seriously, when you can get involved yourself? Many households have discovered how to make their own solar and wind power and become more energy efficient. It is rather simple and inexpensive to do – all it takes is your willingness to learn and take action.
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