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Health
Issues Where to start? How
about a little primer on the storage of
radioactive waste materials.
Under the best of circumstances with production of radioactive
waste as a byproduct of benign power generation, it's clear we
have no safe means to handle or store the radioactive waste.
It's just a question of time and extent with regard to
groundwater pollution by radioactive materials. This is an
ecological disaster that we should not arrogantly inflict on
generations to come.
Engineers can be a little crazy at times.
Apparently there will always be a ready supply of engineers who
believe they are immune to
Murphy's Law. This is how we end up with Chernobyl and Three
Mile Island. I think it would be reasonable if a civilian
population could challenge the engineers to demonstrate their
prowess by cleaning up a past engineering disaster as a
prerequisite to launching new technologies. Here is a
short list of the cleanup engineering projects:
- Chernobyl
- Three Mile Island
- Hanford
Show us that you
have the technological expertise to clean up past disasters
and you will earn a little credibility when you talk about
the safe development and utilization of nuclear power.
Until there is a demonstration of the ability to clean up an
accident site, I will continue to believe that engineers who
think they can play with nuclear power safely are just
educated fools. Robert Oppenheimer is said to have
uttered the words "I have become the destroyer of worlds."
when he witnessed the first atomic blast. I don't
think he meant that as a testimony to the power and grace of
engineering.
Would you like to read up on the health
impact of
depleted uranium? Here is a very informative website
on the health impact of nuclear power and weapons:
Uranium Medical
Research Centre. Don't miss the
fact and
fiction page on that site.
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