Secondly nuclear energy poses a great health risk on the people working in and around the plants. Sellafield, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl are just three examples of what can happen if there is a nuclear accident. At Chernobyl one of the blocks of the plant exploded realising 180,000 kilograms of highly radioactive material, which was equal to 1000 Hiroshima bombs, into the surroundings. This has significantly increased the amount of abortions, stillbirths, and childhood mortality, a growing number of birth defects and genetic abnormalities, retardation of mental development, a growing number of neuropsychiatric diseases, blindness, endocrine diseases, diseases of the respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, uro-genital systems and up to this day, children in the region eat contaminated food, live in contaminated houses, play in contaminated woods and breathe contaminated dust. The effects of Chernobyl have been played down and covered up to as they want to promote nuclear energy as a clean source of power. Sellafield and Three Mile Island have seen similar affects with a rise in children with leukaemia and lymphoma. Scientists have said that it is only a matter of time before another accident like Chernobyl happens as 100% safety can’t be guaranteed.
Even with all the health related issues put aside, the waste produced from the plants is highly toxic and radiating. This waste is not biodegradable and therefore has to be dumped in areas without civilization which is not practical as many country and cities are suffering from over-crowding. People feel that it is a clean form of energy as it doesn’t emit CO2 however the radiation is no better, actually it is much worse as it affects us directly.
In the time of this economic crisis it is strange to think that people are willing to produce nuclear energy with its immense financial costs. Each power plant costing $2 billion and production being 50% more expensive than putting coal-fired power plants, Government subsidies have helped. However with many governments going into major debt will they be able to keep up these subsidies?
Nuclear technology is what made the atomic bomb and in this time of terrorism is developing this source of energy the right thing? These power plants will be target areas for terrorist as they know fully well the dangers of a leak or explosion will cause. Many countries like North Korea, Pakistan, India, Iran and Israel have used their rights for civilian nuclear research for developing nuclear weapons, which has lead to them not tackling problems like unemployment and poverty.
Many people have said that we receive more radiation sitting in our living rooms than is given off by nuclear power plants. A brick wall puts out 3.5 millirems of radiation per year but a nuclear power plant releases only 0.3 millirem in the same time. If you stand next to a nuclear power plant you will receive no radiation at all. The fact that walls emit radiation should make us feel even more reluctant in pursuing this form of energy as the effects of radiation have been clearly seen in Nagasaki, Hiroshima and Chernobyl. It has been clearly proven that radiation affects growth both mentally and physically as well as increasing the chance of diseases such as cancer and leukaemia. It is true that if you stand on the fence line of nuclear power plant that you will receive no radiation however that is not the issue. The problem is with the radiation emitted from the uranium when it is being extracted and transported and buried. These estimates of 0.3 millirem of radiation has been proven wrong time and time again. The legally permitted amount of radiation power plants are allowed to emit is 170 millirems per year and this is when the plant is in ‘normal’ working condition, if anything is done to make it abnormal the amount of radiation the facility is allowed to release is increased and unrestricted.
Thus it is clear that nuclear energy is not a sustainable or environmentally friendly source of power. The misconceptions of it being a renewable and safe form of energy are what has allowed it to even cross our minds. The financial toll it will have on the world will be immense and taking into account the high chance of another accident occurring, people should think twice about welcoming the thought of nuclear energy as the replacement for fossil fuels. I feel that if we are to live on this planet we must take action against the advancement of this form of energy before we will pay for the health, social, environmental and economical consequences that this technology brings with it.
