tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597656451205429515.post5903943211903418900..comments2024-02-16T17:52:44.944-06:00Comments on The Nuclear Green Revolution: A Primer on Nuclear Safety: 2.1 Defense in DepthCharles Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01125297013064527425noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597656451205429515.post-5362162585919754442008-10-13T12:20:00.000-05:002008-10-13T12:20:00.000-05:00One would expect too much, if one wished for a rat...One would expect too much, if one wished for a rational, methodical, and comparative approach to nuclear safety issues from Helen Caldicott.Charles Bartonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01125297013064527425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597656451205429515.post-56601760466312032492008-10-13T10:05:00.000-05:002008-10-13T10:05:00.000-05:00Helen Caldicott, the ceaseless critic of nuclear p...<I>Helen Caldicott, the ceaseless critic of nuclear power notes:<BR/>Nuclear power creates massive quantities of radioactive isotopes, which are classified as nuclear waste. Among these materials are strontium 90, . . cesium 137 . . . plutonium, . . . lutonium has a radioactive life of half a million years.</I> (etc.)<BR/><BR/>One could easily make a scary list of hazards from a coal-fired power plant. It would include various radioactive elements including radon (as Charles Barton noted), uranium and thorium, some of which have a radioactive life of much more than a million years. In addition, there are poisonous elements like mercury, arsenic and lead that have an infinite half-life. And worst of all, all these are released in large quantities as part of the normal operation of the generating plant!<BR/><BR/>Helen Caldicott might argue that therefore we should use something like solar energy. While there may be nearly no hazardous waste associated with the operation with the operation of a solar panel, there are a lot of hazardous materials associated with the manufacture and disposal at end of life. And this material lives on forever to poison generation after generation!<BR/><BR/>I wish people like Helen Caldicott would take the time to compile similar lists of hazards for all the alternatives. They just might discover that no form of energy is completely safe, and also discover how safe nuclear energy is in comparison to all the others.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com