I always hear the “nuclear power is very dangerous” argument, and I realize whenever people hear the scary word “nuclear”, the think big bad explosions.
Did you know that the biggest nuclear meltdown in American history (there have only been two), the three mile island incident, happened very close to a crowded city. Number of deaths…….ZERO. Number of injuries…….ONE.
Now consider how many thousands of people die annually from coal mining, drilling, hell there are fatalities from setting up solar panels and falling off the roof.
Power plants are safe, pollute much less (and none if they properly dispose of the waste), and can power the hell out of out country (nearly 30% of the U.S’s power already comes from nuclear power).
So why do most people have a such an ignorant stigma against this method of energy production?
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/3mile-isle.html
More Pages:
- Solar Producer: Why Not Supporting The Nuclear Energy? (7/26/2011)
- are Nuclear Power Plant considered “green energy”?
- Solar Producer: When Will America Use Nuclear Energy To Produce Needed Electricity? (7/14/2011)
- Solar Power: Do We Realize That When We Gear Up To Build The Next Generation Of Power Plants We Will Be Short Of Skills? (7/22/2011)
- Solar Power: What Are Some Differences And Similarities In Solar Power And Nuclear Power? (7/29/2011)
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
CHERNOBYL!
I think it is just the potential of a huge disaster, much worse than 3 Mile Island or possibly even Chernobyl that has people scared. The Missouri Calloway Plant has been supplying the St. Louis area with some of it’s electricity for over 20 years, maybe close to 30, I know it was already online when the Chernobyl incident occurred in the mid 80′s, with no disasters, maybe a problem or two. But if there was a Chernobyl type event, far worse than 3 Mile Island, the consequences would be beyond anything we’ve ever known in this country. But the chances are actually very, very slim of it happening. But if it did occur, large areas could be uninhabitable for some time, like the area around Chernobyl.
I think one thing that put the idea of a disaster in the mind of people (not the younger people, since this was over 30 years ago) was the fact the Jack Lemmon-Jane Fonda movie “The China Syndrome” opened just a matter of weeks, if not only days, before the real life 3 Mile Island incident. They were not identical in the story, but close enough it was a weird coincidence.
There are many reasons for the irrational fear of nuclear power. Nuclear power was first introduced to the public in the form of nuclear weapons, if the first experience with gasoline was napalm, maybe fewer people would travel by automobile. There are also people who have a vested interest in keeping the American public ignorant and scared.
The Three Mile Island “disaster” hurt no one and is still referred to every day, over 30 years later; coal fired plant air pollution statistically kills thousands every year, mining accidents kill more, the Kleen natural gas explosion where people were killed and injured earlier this year fades into the background. Scared people make the decision to build more fossil plants and not nuclear plants based on perceived risk, while real people continue to die.