Is Nuclear Power Safe?

            The images coming into our news from the events occurring in Japan over the earthquake are making all of us question the safety of Nuclear Power. Radiation has been leaking from the Fukushima plant since March 11 and has been ever since. Radiation levels at 1 million times the normal acceptable amount are currently leaking in the Pacific ocean. Iodine-131 which is a water soluble isotope has been leaking out of the plant for a number of weeks now. Its damaging effects include immediate damage to the thyroid which could lead to cancer depending on the amount of time and overall strength of the Iodine-131.
            The Japanese Government has issued an evacuation within a 20 km radius and has asked that those up to 30 km stay indoors. While the the NRC Chairman has recommended that the evacuation be lifted to 50 km. To fully access the damage of the radiation and its effects on people and the enviornment will take years. The history from the Chernobyl incident that occurred in 1987 in which 195,000 people died from cancer from 1987-2004 warns of chilling consequences. With California sitting on the ring of fire like Japan, and major fault lines waiting to shift at any moment according to many scientists. One must ask, is Nuclear Power worth the risk? The next big one, is expected to hit the west coast between now and the next 100 years.

What about the waste?

Currently, nuclear waste is stored at nuclear power plants in steel-lined, concrete pools or basins filled with water or in steel or concrete-and-steel canisters.  For a more permanent solution, waste will be stored underground in a permanent geologic repository.

            There is no set site for a geologic repository.  The Yucca Mountain site was considered and argued over for a long period of time. President Obama wants to bring back nuclear power to reduce dependence on foreign oil and to create American jobs, but he has made it clear that the Yucca Mountain site is not an option for waste disposal.