] Pros and Cons - an overview
France is one of the world's most densely populated countries. According to a 2007 story broadcast on 60 Minutes, nuclear power gives France the cleanest air of any industrialized country, and the cheapest electricity in all of Europe.[39] France reprocesses its nuclear waste to reduce its mass and make more energy.[40] However, the article continues, "Today we stock containers of waste because currently scientists don't know how to reduce or eliminate the toxicity, but maybe in 100 years perhaps scientists will ... Nuclear waste is an enormously difficult political problem which to date no country has solved. It is, in a sense, the Achilles heel of the nuclear industry ... If France is unable to solve this issue, says Mandil, then 'I do not see how we can continue our nuclear program.'" Further, reprocessing itself has its critics [8]PDF.
In the U.S., which does not reprocess nuclear waste, nuclear power has its own set of problems such as what to do with all the radioactive waste. "Already more than 80,000 tonnes of highly radioactive waste sits in cooling pools next to the 103 US nuclear power plants, awaiting transportation to a storage facility yet to be found. This dangerous material will be an attractive target for terrorist sabotage as it travels through 39 states on roads and railway lines for the next 25 years"[41]. Even keeping track of it all has proved to be a problem [9]. In fact fears have been expressed that terrorists could get ahold of some of it to make nuclear bombs[42]. Additionally many point to the possibility of a catastrophic accident at one of these plants which could affect many thousands or even millions. Greenpeace has produced a report titled An American Chernobyl: Nuclear “Near Misses” at U.S. Reactors Since 1986 which "reveals that nearly two hundred “near misses” to nuclear meltdowns have occurred in the United States". At almost 450 nuclear plants in the world that risk is greatly magnified they say. This is not to mention numerous incidents[43], many unreported, that have occurred. Another report called Nuclear Reactor Hazards: Ongoing Dangers of Operating Nuclear Technology in the 21st Century concludes that risk of a major accident has increased in the past years. See also [10].
Underlying much of the distrust is the fact that it has unfortunately often been the case that populations are not informed of hazards from various technologies that may impact on them. For example Brookhaven National Laboratory's leaking of into community groundwater of radioactive tritium for up to 12 years which angered the local community [11], dangerous coverups at the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant [12] or the pollution of Anniston, Alabama and other locations by Monsanto that went unreported for four decades [13]. For these reasons many feel the risks outweigh the benefits.
However, some people claim that the problems of nuclear waste do not come anywhere close to approaching the problems of fossil fuel waste.[44][45]. A 2004 article from the BBC states: "The World Health Organization (WHO) says 3 million people are killed worldwide by outdoor air pollution annually from vehicles and industrial emissions, and 1.6 million indoors through using solid fuel."[14] In the U.S. alone, fossil fuel waste kills 20,000 people each year.[46] A coal power plant releases 100 times as much radiation as a nuclear power plant of the same wattage.[47] In addition, fossil fuel waste causes global warming, which leads to increased deaths from hurricanes, flooding, and other weather events.
(Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power)
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Uh,do not get scared...