The Cons of Nuclear Reactors By Michelle Trojanowsky

Threats Posed by Nuclear Reactors 1.Terrorism 2.The Production of Radioactive Materials 3.Nuclear Proliferation 4.Nuclear Accidents 5.High Costs

Terrorism Cooling pools –10 to 30 times more radioactive material than in reactor core Transportation –More than 80,000 tons of highly radioactive waste waiting for transportation –Traveling through 39 states on public roads and railway lines for next 25 years

Production of Radioactive Materials Unregulated Isotopes: –Krypton, Xenon, Argon –Inhaled –emit gamma radiation –Cause genetic disease Tritium –Gas that combines w/ O, forms radioactive water –mutagenic

Four of the most dangerous elements made in nuclear power plants: 1.Iodine 131 –Thyroid cancer 2.Strontium 90 –Breast cancer, bone cancer, leukemia 3.Cesium 137 –Sarcoma (muscle cancer) 4.Plutonium 239 –One-millionth gram is carcinogenic –More than 200 kg made annually in EACH power plant –Liver cancer, bone cancer, blood malignancies, lung cancer, congenital deformities, testicular cancer, genetic diseases –Lasts for 500,000 years –Fuel for nuclear weapons

Storage? Waste remains toxic for thousands of years Cannot detoxify waste No long-term repository in US after 20 years of trying Blocked by politics

Nuclear Proliferation Plutonium –Fuel for nuclear weapons –Only 5 kg to make a bomb –Each reactor makes over 200 kg every year –Any country with a nuclear power plant = 40 bombs per year

Nuclear Accidents Numerous accidents in US alone –Nearly 200 documented since Mile Island Chernobyl

August 21, 1945 – Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA Accidental criticality. 1 Death October 8–12, 1957 – Sellafield, Cumbria, UK – Windscale Fire. Reactor core fire December 30, 1958 – Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA Accidental criticality. 1 Death October 1988 – Rocky Flats in Colorado safety violations April 6, Tomsk-7 Siberian Chemical Enterprise - Tomsk, Russia Explosive mechanical failure in a reaction vessel June, Shika Nuclear Power Plant- Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan Control rod malfunction September 30, 1999 – Reprocessing Facility in Tokaimura Japan Accidental Criticality. 2 Deaths April 10, Paks Nuclear Reactor -Paks, Hungary Fuel damaged April 19, 2005 – Thorp Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Plant- Sellafield, UK Nuclear material leak November 2005 — Excelon’s Braidwood Station- - Braidwood, Illinois Nuclear material leak March 6, 2006 —Nuclear Fuel Services Erwin Plant- Erwin, Tennessee Nuclear material leak August, 2007 Clinton, Michigan- Theft of nuclear sources Example Accidents

Three Mile Island March 28, 1979 Partial core meltdown Most significant accident in history of American commercial nuclear power generating industry Resulted in release of significant amount of radioactivity to environment 25,000 people lived within 5 miles of the site

Chernobyl Highly radioactive fallout sent over western Russia, Europe and eastern North America times more fallout than Hiroshima 336,000 people evacuated 60% of radioactive fallout landed in Belarus –More than 2000 children had thyroids removed for thyroid cancer Could have resulted in additional 200,000 deaths between 1990 and 2004

High Costs Nuclear power plants cost just as much as coal plants Difference between cost estimates and final costs for 75 reactors: –original estimate = $45billion –final cost = $145billion –Watts Bar reactor Industry cannot cover own costs –Uranium enrichment subsidized –Industry pays only 2% of liability costs Decommissioning all existing US nuclear reactors = $33 billion Storage of radioactive waste

Summary Terrorism and nuclear accidents would result in catastrophic releases of lethal radioactive material on American soil Political barriers to construction of nuclear facilities- localized effects of accidents/terrorism Absence of long-term storage facilities to hold dangerous waste products High costs make nuclear power economically inefficient Waste from nuclear reactors facilitates nuclear proliferation, threatening global security