Friday, July 19, 2013

Nuclear nightmare

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission says the "risk of a catastrophic irradiated nuclear fuel storage pool fire is vanishingly small". This is an insane statement.

I direct you to two sources. First, to Artichoke Annie's blog for a rundown on the current NRC debacle. And secondly, to a post I wrote in 2011 about a French documentary film called "Waste: The Nuclear Nightmare". (You can watch it on YouTube.)

If you think nuclear power plants are "safe" and believe they produce "clean energy", you really need to see that documentary. It will freak you out. Spent nuclear fuel is literally a 200,000-year curse placed on future generations. It is a danger that is out of control in the US and every other country that maintains nuclear power plants.

We are killing the world right now by failing to address climate change. And we are killing the future world by littering the planet with wildly toxic waste that we have no idea what to do with. 

But don't worry. the NRC says the risk is "vanishingly small". Phew. Go read my 2011 post. It's worth your time. I promise.