Untruths and nuclear power
61LillyLG Productions Copyright© August 8, 2010
This Hub was written in 2010 before Japans nuclear meltdowns
Today is December 17, 2011. The past two years have been riddled with environmental disasters caused by the hunger for energy from unnatural sources. TEPPCO, a firm who handles radioactive waste, permitted in Region 6 of the EPA, has not been regulated to optimize health, safety and human health. The waste is getting into our foods and waters and we must change the way we get energy.
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Answers to "Arguments Against Nuclear Plants are Wrong"
1). Yucca Mountain is Shoshone Tribal Land filled with people. This People as US History dictates has not been protected by any Governmental Organization. Many arguments for having the Spent Plutonium Repository at Yucca Mountain, is that "no one lives out there anyway". How it can be in a time way past the Civil Rights movement, that Indigenous Peoples are still not seen as People. There are children, parents, uncles, aunts and so on. They have been riddled with cancers and other disease from the dirty use of Land assigned to them by the U.S. This is insanely criminal. There is always water underground and the area is already affected by the tons of plutonium stored there.
2). Any time hazardous materials are being shipped, there is danger of accidents, and whole trucks do come up missing product all the time. Whole truckloads are hijacked, stolen and destroyed every week. The "safety video" showing how safe hauling trucks is, was from the early 70's or 80's.
3).Nuclear Plants have some of the tightest security in the country precisely because they are easy targets. In the early part of 2008 the entire Interstate 40 at the Hwy 7 Junction, was closed off due to a bomb threat less than one mile from the Nuclear Plant at Russellville, AR
3a).On 911, Middle Eastern gentlemen entered the Russellville Private Airport, wanting to take planes, and were held by local law enforcement because they are a small town. They ended up releasing them, and they were last seen by the Nuclear Plant
many nuclear plants in the US were built in the 1970's and 1980's
4).The Chernobyl Plant, is the same design as many in the US today. The argument is that Russia did not have the money to operate the plant how it was supposed to, and there are various excuses given to the 3-Mile Island meltdown too. Most Nuclear Plants in the U.S. were built during the late 70's and early 80's. Leaks, spills, and other mishaps are documented in large volumns all over the world. Under Government Documents.
5). Russellville Arkansas has 500 times the Cancer rate as an average in the US. The nuclear plant has a Freak Show Museum they charge money for the citizens to come and see. At Arkansas Tech University, there is an entire room of Government Documents showing all the spills, reports and mishaps. The nuclear plants do not answer to the EPA or any otherEnvironmental Agency, they answer to themselves.
6). The cost to build a Nuclear Plant is tremendous. The amount of groundwater required to cool the Nuclear Plant are enormous, with rising global temps, it may become impossible to cool them safely. The shortage of clean water for human consumption is on the rise, soenergy ideas need to use the least water possible.
7). The profit made by Nuclear Plants is outrageous. Those who work in the nuclear industry are paid handsomely for the risks they endure. This drives up the price of shelter, food and clothing. Since Nuclear plants are not situated in wealthy neighborhoods, it increases the poverty of those who are nearby residents. A nuclear plant affects the environment and human health. Anything near the High Voltage wires will die or be changed into a freak show.
just because a person is paranoid, does not make them wrong. unknown
8). (This was a response to a Hub that was why arguments against nuclear power are wrong. I this was how long my answer was. I cut it, and made a Hub about it.) I am sure this comment will never be published, because it sounds like you work for a group that is pushing Nuclear and "Clean Coal" technology, and the truth is what you make it. Recently the US Department of Energy made and Mutual Understanding and Agreement with the US Military to make Nuclear, Natural Gas Extraction and Clean Coal the "security" forms of Energy. It will be a mandate to citizens to use non-renewable resource.
9). Solar and Wind will put big dirty energy providers like Nuclear and Coal out of business. Individuals can easily power their own homes even passively. With a few hundred dollars, each homeowner can convert their home to passive solar, WaterSense and use solar technology to be off of the grid...again, these people will protect their bottom line.
10). I have made a copy of this for my records.
Energy and Climate - National Security - Pew Project
US Energy & US Dept of Defense come up with an Energy Plan
Profits - Dirty Energy
- Is Nuclear Power Safe?
This is picture of Reactor 4 at Chernobyl after the worst Nuclear Power Plant accident in the world. Once again, Obama surprised me with his embracing Nuclear Power. Is it really the best beast alternative... - Earthenware Haven: This Is Not A Move For Clean Energy! This is a Push for Nuclear, Natural Gas Extr
- Frack(ing) - Breaking Earth's Crust - Under Our Feet
July 11, 2010 It is the Solar Eclipse of 2010. Wondering what will become of us. Will we return to dust? I am listening to Joni Mitchell on YouTube. Joni is playing and belting the song; "Woodstock". One...
Are the Native Tribes "Nobody?"
- http://www.clarkcountynuclearwaste.info/Documents/TribalConcerns.pdf
- Environmental Racism, Tribal Sovereignty and Nuclear Waste - NIRS
- http://www.umich.edu/~snre492/kendziuk.html
- NCAI Comments on Yucca Mountain Waste Facility
This will take you to the page of NCAI where you can find all links have been killed.
Entergy Established in 1949 as Middle South Utilities
How NRC Regulates Themselves
CommentsLoading...
Good grief I tell you the more I know the less I want to know but the untruths and nuclear power are important issues to raise awareness. Peace :)
Dear Ms. Dee Thank you for coming by for a visit and quick read.
Dear Katiem, I understand. My family will ask me about something, then I begin to lay it out, then shortly they say, "stop, I don't want to know". My hope is that people will check the facts for themselves. I never want readers to only take my word as gospel. As we know there were at least 4 Gospels, and they were from 4 different points of view. I am not always right, but I am fairly proficient at interpreting Government Speak, and the state or our Environment. Informed decisions...Peace and Thank you for taking time to visit, read and comment!
LillyGrillzit, this is a very important article!
I personally worked on a project calling for a "citizens addict" of the Comanche Peak reactor way back in the 80s. (Before it went on line).
That place spent nearly SEVEN years of it's final construction in a "tear out and patch" mode. Big business at it again, wasting money on lame projects!
Naturally we did not accomplish our goal. Then, as soon as the plant went on line, electricl rates began to sky rocket! After all... someone had to pay for the NINE BILLION DOLLARS OVER BUDGET the project took!
If you can't convince people of the dangers of nuke waste, hit 'em where it hurts... their pocketbooks! "Cheap" nuclear energy is anything BUT!
As far as the crimes commented against The People... will it never end? And using the name "Comanche Peak" just galls me! It's like thumbing a nose at a people already conquered!
Also days after the plant in Glen Rose, TX went on line, the one near Houston followed suit. Built in an unstable geographic area, and rocking and rolling still!
Who will pay in the long run for the unhalted insanity of the Big Dogs? Us, or future generations? I can't answer that, but as the wise words of The People claim, "when it rains, the ground gets wet"! There are always consequences!
Thanks for an important article!
RunAbstract, thank you for reading and commenting. This is so true, and perhaps with your added personal experience more people will believe the truth of how expensive and unwise Nu-C-Yoo-Lar power is!! Thanks!
Thank you very much for this enlightening article. This is so sad and also frightening. What can we do about this? What can I do?
The only thing I know is assailing Congress with letters and staunch disapproval of the Mutual Agreement between the US Department of Energy and Homeland Security. It is not a good marriage for US citizens. It means billions spent on Monstrosities that do not serve the citizens who are on the grid! Thank you Vocalcoach for stopping by and giving this a read, and leaving your heartfelt comment!
This is a great article, very informative. I don't think nuclear power plants are a good idea either especially when wind energy is cleaner. Thanks for sharing this.
BobbiRant, thank you for the read and comment. There are so many better ways to 'do things'. :0)
Looking for better ways to do things is often not "profitable" and not "glamorous" either, and so the big money doesn't go there. The truth about nuclear energy is so frightening and there are other options. Thanks for sharing this information. I remember a slogan of the "Anti-Wahsins" movement in Germany some years back: "Atomkraft Nein Danke".
Love and peace
Tony
Dear Tonymac04, Thank you for giving this a read and comment! This is much appreciated! Peace :0)
Dear Tonymac04, Thank you for giving this a read and comment! This is much appreciated! Peace :0)
LillyGrillzit,
I enjoyed, yet was disturbed by the information. You ask many difficult questions. There are no easy answers to such questions. The government certainly needs to consider many of the points you raise.
Thank you JD Murrah. I appreciate the read and comment. It is so easy to use common sense and wisdom regarding energy and our environment. It is the money that matters most, unfortunately for those who must somehow live with this...
Now I understand why you like my contraversal hubs, for your views are so Similar to mine! this is great hub and I want to link to it!
Highvoltagewriter - Thanks for the follow, compliments, and link. The Best to you. :0)We also share an empathetic view of homelessness...
I am currently majoring in Mechanical Engineering at a major university and I was doing some research on Nuclear Power Plants when I came across this. Some of the information you have represented here is just plain wrong so much so that I even made an account just so I could explain.
Concerned Citizen, I appreciate that you feel the need to vindicate nuclear power. Everything that I included in this article is factual. But, say your piece.
Here are some of things I noticed.
4) It is well known that the nuclear reactor used at Chernobyl is NOT the same type of reactor used here in the US. The nuclear reactors used at Chernobyl are of type RBMK while in the US we use LWR.
RMBK are inherently unstable and require constant attention to keep them stable. LWR are inherently stable and require some sort of malfunction to become unstable. I wont get into the huge details but this is just a basic understanding of the different types of reactors.
See related link for more info
http://users.owt.com/smsrpm/Chernobyl/RBMKvsLWR.ht
5) You are correct that power plants don't answer to the EPA that is because they answer to an entirely different organization which was created specifically to address the issues with nuclear power. This organization is called NRC, or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This is run by the government just the same as the EPA is. Whether or not the government does a good job regulating is another issue but to say they regulate themselves is just plain wrong. http://www.nrc.gov/
6) Nuclear Power plants use roughly the same amount of water that coal power plants use. Advances in efficiency are bringing it down more. The water used is not drinking water. And I don't understand how global warming could cause plants to become impossible to cool. A rise in temperature of even 10 degrees, which would end life as we know it, would still have little to no impact on cooling a power plant since the components are inside about 40 ft of concrete and steel. Also nuclear power plants consume water but produce no green house gasses which would help to slow global warming if this even were an issue.
7) This is a very biased statement. Of course Nuclear Power companies want to make money. The profits they make are not huge as stated. In fact it actually costs a little bit more to run a nuclear plant than a coal plant.
http://www.nucleartourist.com/basics/costs.htm
If a nuclear power plant were to try and charge outrageous prices just to make huge profits somebody else would move in and offer the power for cheaper.
Wind and solar power have not been profitable with current technology and survive on government subsidies. If advancements could be made to make them as profitable as nuclear or coal I'm sure that they would rise in popularity.
The part that most confuses me about this is that you say, "Anything near the High Voltage wires will die or be changed into a freak show." I would love to see some information on this happening. But it shows a complete lack of understanding how power works. Solar and Wind plants have High Voltage wires as well. People live with power lines over their heads and below their feet all the time. There may be some research to show that those people have increased risk of some cancers etc. But this will be true no matter what the power source renewable or not. This problem lies not with nuclear power but with power distribution in general.
8) I also doubt that this comment will be posted.
I don't work for any company that is pushing renewable or non renewable energy. I hope that we can find new ways of producing power that are renewable and safe as well.
Once again I would love to see the source for your statement that, "a mandate to citizens to use non-renewable resource". If this were true I sure that there would be a huge outcry. As it is the government gives more advantages to clean energy than it forces non-renewable.
9) As stated above. If wind and solar really could put them out of business they would. And more power to the people that hook up wind and solar to their own homes. Perhaps this may be the way of the future that we power our own homes.
I hope that I have made my comments clear. I feel that you made some very inaccurate statements and some generally sweeping statements about nuclear power before actually doing the research about it. If you are going to hate something understand exactly what it is about why you hate it. Get your information from primary sources. If I were to quote somebody else's blog as a source in this paper that I am writing I would be laughed out of class. I know it's hard to believe but not everything we read on the internet is true.
Concerned Citizen thank you for the findings you have included. Have you ever lived near a Nuclear Plant? I can assure you I am not making sweeping statements. Again, I have posted links and articles to scientific journals, I spent over 25 years living at the foot of a Nuclear Plant, I have been around long enough to see what has transpired. The NRC is a law to themselves. They tell the Government what to do. Check out postings on the EERE.gov, Pew Project, and Homeland Security, The Department of the Military, and check their MUA's and MOU's. I post the facts and let people infer what they will. You have no reason to begin a personal attack on what kind of person I am, or what I do or don't know. I have an impressive resume in the field of Earth Science, Environmental justice, and solid waste and toxicity on human populations. I am not afraid to publish people who have different opinions. You belittle me with your last line, and the only reason I can see you would do that is your idealism of Nuclear Power has been shaken and you have to make it personal and an attack on my intelligence. What is your concern citizen? Is this your mission to make sure no one speaks against a small group using billions of dollars to make themselves wealthy and the hell with the environment? I do not advocated coal fire plants, and there are many problems with coal power. Good luck with your concerns. Carry on.
Ms Dee Level 5 Commenter 21 months ago
Wow, lots of good information here. Will be back to study it more! Thanks for putting this together.