The dangers of nuclear power
I’ve written before about how nuclear power is the best carbon-free electricity source at the moment. Not to say that others like wind and solar will never work, but they’re not viable to use on a large scale at the moment, and won’t be without several more years and a lot more money for research. If we’re going to cut carbon emissions drastically starting soon, nuclear is the only way to go.
There is still a large percentage of the population that resists nuclear power, and this is because most people are just uninformed. I’ll admit that nuclear stuff is scary, and if something goes really wrong the results are really bad. One of those really bad things happened at Chernobyl in 1986, and people are afraid it might happen again. Rightfully so, I think.
The big problem with the public resistance to nuclear power, though, is people like Ken Gale. As far as I can tell, he’s not an expert on anything except comic books, yet he has written this article about the safety issues of the nuclear power plant at Indian Point, New York. He says a lot of scary things, and anybody who reads this would be crazy to embrace nuclear power.
The problem is this: barely anything he’s said on that site is actually true. His claims that the plant regularly releases radioactive gas, it releases radioactive and thermal pollution into the river, the high level waste is stored in open pools, and that New York wouldn’t notice if the plant was shut off are ludicrous. None of those statements is even remotely close to fact. The author claims to have researched the page, but he doesn’t list his sources so I don’t know where he got this “information.”
If you’re going to oppose nuclear power, at least do some real research before you do. Inform yourself before taking a stance either way. Be skeptical of any claims for or against, do your homework, and make up your own mind.
