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Dispelling the nuclear lobby’s spin on “clean”

Nuclear Myths and Facts   Greenpeace International by jmckeati – August 24, 2010 NEI’s ‘Fact’: Nuclear energy is one of the cleanest energy sources in America….Here we have some classic industry spin. When it comes to nuclear power, the industry wants you to think of electricity generation in isolation. It wants you to focus on ‘low-carbon’ electricity and not think about the environmental catastrophes caused by uranium mining and nuclear waste. Uranium mining isn’t even mentioned in the NEI document.And yet the production of nuclear fuel is a hugely intensive process. Uranium must be mined, milled, converted, enriched, converted again and then manufactured into fuel. You’ll notice the NEI’s ‘fact’ doesn’t mention the carbon footprint of all steps in the nuclear chain prior to electricity generation. Fossil fuels have to be used and that means CO2 emissions.

Not only that, there is not a uranium mine in the world that has not blighted the environment and the lives of the people living close by. Look at Caetite in Brazil, Kakadu in Australia, Wollaston Lake in Canada [], Akokan and Arlit in Niger, and the Najavo people in the US, to name just a few. Does that legacy of contamination make you think nuclear power is clean? Uranium mining is the industry’s dirty little secret.

Nuclear Myths and Facts #3: Nuclear energy is ‘dirty.’ | Greenpeace International

August 25, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, spinbuster | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive