Nuclear Power is Wrong for America: Separating Fact from Fiction

Nuclear Power PlantAfter the Three Mile Island Disaster that took place in the United States in 1979, followed by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster just seven years later in 1986, most of the nation, and the world, began to speak out about the dangers that nuclear power posed to not only the stability of the environment but to our own lives as well. Many people realized the truth about the nuclear industry: that nuclear power is dirty, costly, and deadly, and they became quite outspoken about these facts. In fact, so dangerous is the concept of nuclear power plants that before his fall from grace, Patrick Moore wrote in the Assault on Future Generations in 1976 that "Nuclear power plants are, next to nuclear warheads themselves, the most dangerous devices that man has ever created. Their construction and proliferation is the most irresponsible, in fact the most criminal, act ever to have taken place on this planet."

Common sense prevailed and many of the nuclear plants were shut down much to the relief of those concerned over the harm that they caused. Unfortunately, nearly thirty years later it appears that this is a lesson that we once again need to learn.

A new push to establish nuclear power plants in the US, something that was widely fueled by McCain's off track and ill informed politics, has been aiming at American's fears and concerns over the economy, global warming, and our dependency on foreign oil to bully their way towards lucrative power deals that will line their pockets while harming the environment and putting millions of lives at risk. But groups like Greenpeace and others are fighting back and it is important to arm yourself with the facts on nuclear power and why it is bad for the environment and for consumers.

The Claims:

Nuclear power supporters have made claims that nuclear power is cheap, would reduce carbon emissions, and end our dependence on foreign oil but do these claims actually reflect the reality of nuclear power?

The Economic Facts:

The fact is that not only would it cost trillions of dollars to bring the nuclear power plants online that they are pushing for but they will be devastating to the environment in several ways. One estimate from Florida Power and Light for a dual core reactor system was $12 to $18 billion dollars or could climb as high as $24 billion for just one project alone and those costs would be passed on to the consumers resulting in higher bills for an already stressed economy.

What about the environmental impact?

To start with, these plants will not reduce carbon emissions and could actually increase them. Proponents of nuclear energy try to mislead the public by focusing on the fact that at the moment of energy output, nuclear power is not emitting the levels of harmful greenhouse gases responsible for global warming that is produced by fossil fuels such as coal. However, they fail to mention that in every step leading up to that point from the mining of the nuclear materials to its transportation and refinement, the industry is adding to the carbon emissions in amounts that equal and even exceed current energy production rates. So in fact, nuclear power would not reduce our carbon emissions and could even have a negative impact by producing more carbon than we are already.

Secondly, the devastation that results from nuclear waste, contamination, and plant disasters can be much greater and have longer impacts than we are seeing with the current energy industry. Once the water, air, and soil has been contaminated and has become radioactive it spreads to effect everything including human health. Nuclear fall out and the inevitable contamination from nuclear waste and processing can interfere with human reproduction and thyroid functions, cause miscarriages, and increases the rate of various cancers in addition to the radiation poisoning and direct deaths caused by immediate contact with radioactive materials. 

After the Chernobyl incident, which was responsible for dozens of immediate deaths and killed over 4 square kilometers of forest around the area, also exposed hundreds of thousands of people to radiation and even years later was responsible for the deaths of thousands of people who died from cancers as a result of their exposure. Nuclear accidents are deadly and some of the damage done is irreversible. During the mining, preparation, transportation of nuclear materials and the disposal of nuclear waste along with the actual operation of the plants themselves which can not guarantee that radioactive materials will be contained regardless of what claims they make. The chances of water contamination and other such harm are also extremely high. So the claims that nuclear power is environmentally friendly is clearly wrong.

The Energy Facts:

So, nuclear power loses out on the cheap and safe arguments, what about the claims that nuclear power plants will stop our dependency on foreign oil sources? Again, this is another blatantly misleading argument. In fact, our oil dependency and nuclear power really having nothing to do with one another. 

Our greatest consumption of foreign oil in this nation is used in transportation as the gas in our cars and trucks, etc., where as the type of energy generated from nuclear power plants would be providing electricity to homes and businesses so the two have little to do with one another. So even if we build the new plants, we would still have to put gas in our cars; nuclear power plants would do nothing to end our dependency on foreign oil.

Additionally, safe alternative energy already exists in renewable forms such as solar and wind power among others. By using these new forms of energy we could protect our environment while providing for thousands of new jobs that would boost our economy and provide all of the nations energy needs in a healthy, safe, and sustainable manner- something that nuclear power can never do.

Although pro-nuke campaigns may promise us the moon, their false claims are merely a tactic being used to convince people to support a dangerous and deadly industry that would be bad for the environment, bad for our health, and bad for America.