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| Nuclear Power in the US of A. | ||||||||||||||
| Nuclear energy is responsible for 15% of American electricity, and 17% of electricity worldwide. What exactly is that doing to our environment and economy? | ||||||||||||||
| Nuclear reactors operate very cleanly and self sufficiently. The whole reaction safely occurs in a sealed concrete reactor that can withstand the impact of a fighter jet. Even then, some by-products escape. Some are non-radioactive: water vapor escapes from the condensor (or cooling towers), ventilators from parts of the plant that do not house uranium leak exhaust, the generator leaks exhaust. There are also radioactive by-products: gases are allowed to escape that are released from radioactive substances, and waste water that's been used to power the turbines. All spent fuel is collected and put into some NRC aprroved storage medium. Vermont Yankee happens to use dry cask storage. These are huge concrete "lockers" that will house the waste until it's no longer a threat to our environment. (Which will take about ten thousand years.) | ||||||||||||||
| If the highly radioactive waste were to escape by some act of *insert diety here*, we would have an American Chernobyl. Since the NRC is still properly doing its job, American plants have far higher safetey standards, and there are safeguards in place, that's not going to happen. The only waste that could cause harm to human beings is locked up tight. | ||||||||||||||
| Now if you ask someone in the nuclear porfession to tell you about radiation, they'll spout off a definition from their old nuclear textbooks. "A rem is that amount of any type of radiation which causes biological damage equivalent to the deposition of 100 ergs (measure of energy equivalent to 10(-7) joules) of x-ray or gamma radiatin per 100grams of body tissue." (Young 4/24) In English, that means one rem shows how much damage 100 ergs of Gamma or X-rays will do to 100 grams of human flesh. The amount a VY employee recieves is something around 2 millirems per shift. I personally know peoople who have worked with nuclear power for better than ten years with no ill effects. So nuclear plants are not killing US citizens.. | ||||||||||||||
| Currently in the United States there 103 nuclear plants, all collectively chugging away at 89% of their full capacity. And over their 40 year lives, they generate $65 billion dollars of profit, and only costs 1.68 cents per kilowat hour. If each of those 103 plants were to get a 20 year licenense renewal, they'd make $75 billion. Now for those who use stocks to equate economic success, thirteen nuclear corporations actually surpassed DOW 30 companies in 2002. | ||||||||||||||
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