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Smart Energy Summer Archive |
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Nuclear Power: An Unsafe and Costly Choice
by Dan Becker, Sierra Club Energy Program Director
 President Bush has made the mistake of proposing that the United States expand
its nuclear energy industry. Generating electricity from nuclear sources
poses at least four insurmountable problems: the production of highly dangerous
radioactive
waste, a prohibitively high cost, the potential for accidents and the risk
of nuclear weapons proliferation.
First, every nuclear reactor generates about 20 tons of highly radioactive
spent nuclear fuel and additional low-level radioactive waste per year. Radioactive
waste is one of the most dangerous materials known to humankind-it can kill
at high doses and cause cancer and birth defects at low doses. Nuclear waste
remains dangerous to humans for 200 thousand years. Worse, we don't know what
to do with this waste once it is generated. The nuclear industry and some in
Congress propose dumping nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain, NV; however, the
mountain is seismically active. An earthquake in the 1990's caused over $1
million damage to a Department of Energy (DOE) facility at the site. In addition,
a DOE panel of scientists has found that the nuclear material may leak from
the containment vessels over time and will contaminate groundwater. On its
way to Yucca Mountain, the waste will pass through thousands of cities and
towns. There are serious concerns about the exposure risks in transporting
the waste from all over the country into Nevada.
Second, nuclear power is the most expensive way ever devised to generate electricity.
The method is not anywhere near cost effective; nuclear plants in the states
of Oregon, New York, Maine, Illinois, and Connecticut have been shut down before
the end of their planned lives because the owners found it was too expensive
to keep them going. American taxpayers are subsidizing the nuclear industry.
According to the Congressional Research Service, the industry has cost taxpayers
$66 billion in research and development subsidies. When no private insurer
would underwrite the risks inherent to a nuclear plant, Congress passed the
Price-Anderson law, which provides billions in taxpayer subsidized insurance.
While this insurance protects the insurance industry, it offers no guarantee
that victims of a nuclear accident would be fully compensated.
Third is the danger of an accident. An accident at a coal plant is a problem.
An accident at a nuclear plant can be a disaster. Because human beings operate
plants and drive the trucks that transport nuclear waste, accidents can and
will happen. The danger with nuclear power is that the stakes in accidents
are extremely high. Anyone exposed to radiation leaks or accidents will likely
sicken or die from that exposure. Cleanup costs will be in the billions. Public
Citizen has found that more than 90 percent of the country's reactors have
been in violation of government safety regulations during the last three years,
potentially increasing the risk of accidents.
Finally, there is the risk that nuclear material will fall into the wrong
hands. President Bush has recommended that we consider "reprocessing" of
spent nuclear fuel, a method that consolidates waste into weapons-usable plutonium.
The government has elaborate plants to prevent rogue nations and terrorists
from stealing the nuclear fuel or waste to make nuclear bombs. The more nuclear
reactors, the more risk of radioactive material being stolen to make bombs.
Nuclear power is not a responsible choice. We can meet our energy needs through
energy efficiency, renewable energy like solar and wind power, and responsible
additions to supply. We can meet our energy needs and have a clean and healthy
world without nuclear power. America deserves a safer, cleaner, and cheaper
energy future.
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