Chernobyl, Fukushima teach us that nuclear power is not worth the risk

Nuclear plant risks are not worth it, Green Bay Press Gazette, Mary Tordeur,24 Feb 12, “………Fukushima cannot be considered a small incident that can easily be corrected. It caused a great area to be uninhabitable, as well as a risk to the health of the entire nation’s population for generations to come.

The 1986 Chernobyl disaster caused 6,000-8,000 deaths due to cancer and other radiation-related illnesses, another 15,000 suffering related diseases since 1992, along with 32 deaths from the explosion itself, according to a story in the Press-Gazette story in 1992.
Cleanup costs were estimated to hit $400 billion. It caused a lethal cloud that drifted over Europe, risking the health of millions and contaminating water, livestock, milk, hay and food crops. It left 1,000 square miles highly contaminated and nearly 3 million acres of
agricultural land considered lost for a century. It was estimated there could be 1 million extra cancers worldwide within 70 years of Chernobyl.
As for our nation developing the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada
for waste disposal, reducing the risks of spills and terrorists
access, aren’t the nuclear plants themselves as much of a target?
Surely you can’t believe a couple chain-link fences make these
facilities secure, including the two right here in our own back yard
of Northeastern Wisconsin. Even a simple human error could cause
enormous potential damages.

As Linssen states, there are a dozen new reactor designs in various
stages of development and “new energy technologies often bring new
hazards.” We are arrogant, indeed, if we think that even with all our
present technology, we are fully prepared to handle nuclear crisis.

The NRC is questioning how hot nuclear fuel rods could become in the
event of a loss of coolant in our own Kewaunee Power Station, along
with 10 others nationwide that have pressurized water reactors
designed by Westinghouse Electric Co. NRC regulations say the
temperatures must be 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit or less to keep from
damaging fuel rod insulation that keeps radiation from escaping. The
11 plants in question have computer models that estimate peak
temperatures of 2,000 degrees or more in such an event. That’s too
close to the limit, the NRC said.

I am not alone in my belief that our delicate earth is in peril. I
have seen how cancer has ravaged so many families these days, ours
included, and the potential man has at his fingertips to cause such
enormous damage to our planet. We cannot afford to take such risks.

Mary Tordeur is an Ashwaubenon resident who tracks the impact of
nuclear accidents.
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