Nuclear Power

I recently read an interesting set of articles about nuclear power in America. The main push of the articles was encouraging people to adopt nuclear as a low emissions source of energy between now and when reliable renewable energy sources can take over. Following are some of the interesting things I learned that I feel it is important for everyone to know.

1. Nuclear power is incredibly safe, all the concerns about a Chernobyl like event happening here are unwarranted and the accident at Three Mile Island was actually relatively minor. Experts think it is likely that the radio active materials leaked a Three Mile Island were so minimal they did not cause a single case of cancer.

2. Nuclear waste is not the huge problem it is made out to be. It is safe to store, takes up relatively minimal space, and is considerably less dangerous than the waste produced at coal plants that simply gets deposited back into the world.

3. Coal plants actually emit radio active isotopes into the atmosphere and create more radioactive waste then nuclear plants do.

4. Not a single nuclear plant has been approved or built in the United States sense Three Mile Island.

I think these articles make a strong case for nuclear power and that future nuclear proposals should be taken seriously. If we continue burning fossil fuels to create energy until we find reliable renewable energy sources it might be to late to reverse the global climate change triggered by the emissions from coal and natural gas powerplants.