Nuclear Power and Green

Attitudes are beginning to change about nuclear power. The world seems to be moving toward a Homer Simpson statement thanking the Lord for “nuclear power, the cleanest, safest energy source there is.”

Even Patrick Moore a founder of Green-Peace has become a proponent. Patrick says “The fact that nuclear technology was first used to make the bomb had a deep psychological impact on the mass mind. …I made the same mistake, lumping nuclear energy in with nuclear weapons, when one is destructive and the other beneficial.”

What makes this a good idea?

The US uses more than 320 billion gallons of oil/year with almost 200 billion of these gallons imported each year. To be independent we need a serious reliable energy source and nuclear fits the bill.

Nuclear does not emit gasses or burn anything. (Coal plant air pollution kills thousands of US citizens each year.)

If you live within 50 miles of a nuclear plant the danger of exposure to radiation in one year is less than you would get eating one banana.

The waste produced by a nuclear reactor is relatively small. One year’s waste from a typical reactor would fit in the bed of a pickup truck. The lifetime waste from one person who’s only source of energy was nuclear would fit in one soda can.

What about accidents?

Studies have shown that Chernobyl’s design was not sound.

Three Mile Island functioned as it was supposed to, preventing any radiation from escaping into the environment.

As nuclear plants are being built all around the world, designs are getting even better.

More and more people seem to be seeig nuclear energy as the most prudent choice to preserve the environment and supply the massive energy needed to power the US and the rest of the world.

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Notyak! You don't have to become a yak herder to do something good for the environment. www.notyak.com

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See green articles our President, Dixie Schmatz, has written for businesses at www.EvanCarmichael.com/Going-Green/

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