Nuclear Power Hinders Progress on Climate Change
The Nuclear Power Danger ( http://www.beyondnuclear.org/?Page=Module&ModuleID=21)
Nuclear Power Hinders Progress on Climate Change
Nuclear power cannot address climate change. Greenhouse gases are emitted throughout the nuclear fuel chain, from the mining of the necessary fuel - uranium - to its enrichment, transportation and the construction of nuclear plants. Nuclear plants take too long to build - up to a dozen years or more. The planet is already in crisis with experts pointing to rapid climate change already underway and less than ten years left to pre-empt disaster. There is no time to wait for nuclear plant construction.
Nuclear plants are too expensive - at least $6 billion or more apiece. The planet and its inhabitants need faster, cheaper and safer energy sources without the risks presented by nuclear power: daily exposure to routine releases of radiation; the risk of radiological catastrophe from a serious accident or attack; piles of lethal radioactive waste stored unsafely at reactor sites; and the proliferation dangers and ties to nuclear weapons development.
Expansion of nuclear power invites war. This has been most ominously demonstrated by the September 6, 2007 bombing by Israel of a suspected nuclear site in Syria, and the sabre-rattling around Iran’s nuclear power program.
The age of nuclear power and fossil fuels has passed. We have excellent, cleaner, safer and cheaper alternatives that are available and ready to implement. To learn more about how we can do without nuclear power and fossil fuels, see the Carbon-Free and Nuclear Free special report.
Climate Crisis: Nuclear energy cannot address issues connected to the greenhouse gas buildup. Nuclear power plants are too costly, take too long to build, and are too expensive to operate to affect the problem in time. In fact, investments in nuclear power deprive other efforts, such as conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy, of much-needed funding.
Routine Radioactive Releases: All reactors release radiation into the air, water and soil and cannot be described as “emissions-free.” Children are especially vulnerable and cannot be shielded from cancer-causing radiation in the environment. In fact, national radiation protection standards fall short of protecting those most vulnerable to the harmful effects of radiation, basing their evaluation on impacts to a “standard” healthy, young, white adult male.
Terrorism: New reactors would increase the number of terrorist targets and current ones are not even defended to the level of the 9/11 assault – 19 men in four teams, including air attack scenarios. Thirty-two U.S. reactors have fuel pools on the upper levels of the reactor building, shielded only by sheet metal and an open invitation to air attack.
Radioactive Waste: The entire nuclear fuel chain, from mining to milling, processing, enrichment, fuel fabrication, and fuel irradiation in reactors, generates radioactive waste. Nuclear reactors produce large amounts of long-lasting, deadly radioactive waste. This includes 20-30 tons of high-level radioactive waste per year per reactor, plus so-called “low” level radioactive waste streams, and much of the entire contaminated nuclear power plant site once closed. There is currently no acceptable solution for either “storage” or “disposal” of this waste. New reactors would produce yet more radioactive waste which would be left on site, threatening the region, or transported across the country, increasing the odds of disaster on site and in transit. The only proposed deep geological dump in the U.S. is at the scientifically unsound Yucca Mountain, virtually guaranteed to leak massive amounts of deadly radioactive waste over time. The site would, if opened, soon be full with no room for newly-produced waste. “Low-level” radioactive waste, a misnomer, is dumped into landfills or incinerated, contaminating our water and air. Efforts to recycle it into consumer goods threaten our health.
Exorbitant Cost: Every reactor costs at least $6 billion to construct. President Bush signed an energy bill in 2005 that would award the nuclear industry $13 billion in tax breaks, subsidies and loan guarantees. This includes $2.9 billion for more research and development and $2 billion to cover costs of new construction delays – all paid by the public. Meanwhile, electric utilities comprise some of the wealthiest corporations in the world. Nuclear power has already been subsidized to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars over the past fifty years.
Accidents: New reactors, like old ones, are at their most vulnerable to accidents. Yet in the event of an accident, existing evacuation plans have been found to be unrealistic. Furthermore, the Price-Anderson Act ensures that the liability of an accident to a utility is capped at $10.8 billion. A serious reactor accident could cost as much as $600 billion, the balance of which would likely be paid by taxpayers.
Reactors and Bombs: Reactors and the nuclear fuel chain facilities they are connected to set the stage for atomic weapons production. Therefore the world cannot free itself from nuclear weapons while reactors and nuclear fuel chain facilities such as uranium enrichment and reprocessing factories exist. The tensions over Iran, North Korea, India and Pakistan perfectly illustrate this point.
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