No More Chernobyls.

[rodeodance]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: On the Verge of Nuclear Disaster
Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 12:10:55 -0400 (EDT)
From: Greenpeace <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
To: xxxx



Greenpeace

Dear xxxx, 25 April 2006

No More Chernobyls.

Tomorrow marks the 20th anniversary of the worst commercial nuclear accident the world has ever seen: Chernobyl. But if you think it can't happen here, or now, think again. In the last 20 years since Chernobyl, nearly 200 "near-misses" have occurred at U.S. nuclear power plants. Has one of these happened at a nuclear reactor near you?

We've just released a report that documents these near misses. Despite the claims of the nuclear industry, an American Chernobyl is possible.

Earlier this year, President Bush announced plans to build a new generation of nuclear power plants. The government is planning a nuclear renaissance, and they're footing the bill with your tax dollars.

But is nuclear energy any safer today than it was 20 years ago? The answer is a resounding NO.

Take Action >>
Sign our petition against nuclear energy,

I've been campaigning against nuclear power for almost 20 years now, and I can tell you that no matter what the nuclear industry says about safety, there are fundamental problems with nuclear energy that will never go away. Let me share a few examples with you:

* During one year of operation, a nuclear reactor produces as much long-lived radioactive poison as that released by 1,000 Hiroshima bombs. And there is still no way to safely dispose of it.
* Did you know that a nuclear accident in the United States could cost as much as $15 billion and like Chernobyl, leave large areas of land uninhabitable for generations?
* Radiation causes cancer. Government studies have repeatedly found that there is no such thing as a safe dose of radiation.

Even today, the impact of the Chernobyl meltdown is still being felt. Experts predict as many as 200,000 cancer cases related to the Chernobyl accident and many believe that the number of cancer deaths could reach as high as 93,000.

If we want to avoid nuclear disasters here at home, we have to avoid nuclear energy. There are much safer, renewable energy sources available today. Please, take a moment to reflect on the consequences of Chernobyl, and another moment to prevent the same sort of tragedy from occurring here at home.

Sincerely,

Jim Riccio
Nuclear Policy Analyst


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[benburch]

1. Do you know the first thing about nuclear plant design?

I do.

And I can tell you that Chernobyl was a dual use Military/Domestic reactor which was dangerous because it was stupidly designed and not in a containment building.

NOBODY builds reactors like that in this country.

It is IMPOSSIBLE for any domestic reactor now in operation or proposed for building to fail in that manner.

PERIOD.

I still think that nuclear energy is far, far too expensive, but that does not excuse claptrap like this from being spread around like it were some sort of fact.

[KyuzoGator]

2. I will second that notion.

I work in the power industry and I can honestly say that nuke plants are safer and have less environmental impact than any other power generation method.

Chernobyl's reactor design was criminal.

[pitohui]

12. then why can't you buy insurance?

if it was safe, the insurance would be available, there is nothing better than taking free money off the table

[BooScout]

3. Doesn't have to be in your country to affect you....

I live in Wales. After Chernobyl a nuclear rain cloud formed......drifted over North Wales and then began to rain. The soil is still radioactive. It won't wash away because it's a rocky soil. 20 years on and the sheep are still eating radioactive grass. They bring them off the mountains and the hills, feed them sweet radioactive free grass for a few weeks and supposedly they are safe to shear and slaughter for meat. BS.

No nuclear reactor is safe enough for me.

[struggle4progress]

5. Operator experiments caused the accident. And I have seen NRC ..

.. daily reports about US reactor operators conducting "unauthorized experiments" with reactors ...

[struggle4progress]

6. Chernobyl had containment, which failed. And there are NRC studies ..

.. indicating that a number of US reactor containment structures would fail under severe accident conditions, too ...

[Rosco T.]

9. The Containment failed because the operators..

.. kept OVERRIDING THE FAILSAFES.

Operator error.

[struggle4progress]

13. Unauthorized experiments with reactors aren't unknown here, either.

[BooScout]

7. Three words: Three Mile Island

Not the same, but too damned close. TYVM.

[jpak]

10. The proposed pebble bed modular reactor lacks a robust containment dome

http://www.nirs.org/factsheets/pbmrfactsheet.htm

...and the containment designs of many of the so-called advanced reactors on the drawing boards are very different from contemporary reactor containment structures - whether these designs are sufficient to withstand a 9/11-style aircraft attack remains to be seen....

[Boojatta]

4. Commercial? Can you name the companies that built and operated it?

Tomorrow marks the 20th anniversary of the worst commercial nuclear accident the world has ever seen: Chernobyl.

[TexasLawyer]

8. My thread in the Editorials area

I don't like nuclear power either.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x206661

[pitohui]

11. homeowner's insurance won't pay in case of nuclear accident

if there is a chernobyl style event near your home, you will lose everything financially even if you have homeowner's insurance

it is excluded

that tells me all i need to know to know abt how safe the nuclear industry is

if it was safe, the insurers would be knocking down your walls to sell you an insurance policy

but you can't buy one for any price

there is not even a gov't sponsored program such as there is for flood and earthquake, the insurance simply does not exist at any price


i should not have to take the risk of losing everything, my health, my hair, my home, every financial asset i have ever worked for, maybe even my life for the same of an industry that gives fuck-all abt me

[Blue Diadem]

14. They were close to disaster at Davis Besse in 2002.

I think there are much better and safer ways to generate power.

www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040921/NEWS17/409210330/-1/NEWS30

REACTOR HEAD CORROSION
2002 Davis-Besse problem ranked among worst ever

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's research arm yesterday ranked Davis-Besse's recent meltdown threat as one of the most serious ever at an American nuclear plant.

The Oak Harbor facility now has two of the five most serious meltdown threats since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979. Davis-Besse had a serious problem in 1985 as well.

According to the NRC, there was a 6 in 1,000 chance that Davis-Besse's emergency core coolant system would fail if the reactor's badly corroded head had blown open at any point during the year preceding the plant's Feb. 16, 2002, shutdown.