The Nuclear Power Danger

http://www.beyondnuclear.org/nuclearpower.html

The Nuclear Power Danger

Nuclear reactors emit radioactivity; present inviting terrorist
targets; are
inextricably linked to nuclear weapons - depending on fuel chain
facilities that can be diverted to nuclear weapons use - and are too
expensive and too slow to build to combat climate change. They leave
mountains of radioactive waste, dangerous for millennia. An accident
could result in devastating health consequences.

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. Here are some of the compelling reasons to
shut down nuclear power:

* 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 *** 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 $4 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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