Chernobyl Anniversary Serves as Reminder of Dangers of Nuclear Power
No New Nuclear Power Plants Should Be Built; Renewable Technologies Are Capable of Meeting Our Energy Needs and Addressing Climate Change
Statement of Michele Boyd, Legislative Director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program
Twenty years ago, the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear station in the Ukraine served as a catastrophic reminder of the dangers of nuclear power. More than 400,000 people in the Ukraine, Russia and Belarus were evacuated, according to government estimates, and several million people were exposed to significant levels of radioactive fallout. About 25,000 of the 600,000 emergency responders have since died as a result of radiation exposure. The contamination has rendered 4,440 square kilometers of agricultural land and 6,820 square kilometers of forests in Belarus and the Ukraine unusable. People, especially children, throughout the Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia, as well as Western Europe, are still suffering from the health effects of this disaster.
Despite its dangers, nuclear power has received renewed attention recently and is now being touted as a way to reduce emissions that contribute to global warming. With the support of the Bush administration and $13 billion in taxpayer subsidies in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, nuclear utilities are proposing to build new nuclear reactors at more than a dozen sites across the United States. This is a bad idea for several reasons. First, it would create large quantities of nuclear waste, which the nuclear industry still has not figured out how to dispose of. Second, it would make communities throughout the country newly vulnerable to nuclear accidents. Third, it would encourage nuclear weapons proliferation by generating large amounts of plutonium, which would be vulnerable to theft or diversion. Moreover, because of high capital costs, a lengthy construction process and polluting waste, new nuclear reactors are one of the least effective options for reducing carbon emissions.
Renewable energy – which includes solar, wind, advanced hydro, certain types of biomass and geothermal energy – can be harnessed more quickly and cheaply, and without significant carbon emissions, destructive mining or radioactive waste. According to a new analysis by Public Citizen based on the work of governments, universities and other organizations in the United States, Europe and Japan, a diverse mix of existing renewable technologies can meet U.S. energy needs over the coming decades.
Twenty years after the Chernobyl disaster, the risks of nuclear power are all the more evident. The United States should leave nuclear technology behind and immediately and comprehensively embrace renewable energy.
Public Citizen http://www.citizen.org
Please also see:
Petition the UN to stop promoting nuclear power
http://ctk.greenpeace.org/gp-en/ctk-collectors/respond?item%5fid=2047368&obj_skin_id=51
Chernobyl: A 20 Year Catastrophe; A Lesson for the Future
http://www.ippnw.org/chernobyl20.html
Scientific Facts on the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident (photo source)
http://www.greenfacts.org/chernobyl/index.htm
Chernobyl death toll grossly underestimated http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/chernobyl-deaths-180406
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster http://www.chernobyl.co.uk
Chernobyl: Hardly the last word
http://www.thebulletin.org/article.php?art_ofn=ma06flynn
Hospital number six: A first-hand report (PDF)
http://www.thebulletin.org/past_issues/042_007.htm
Chernobyl Twenty Years On
Twenty years ago this week, an unparalleled nuclear disaster struck. Its effects are still felt across Europe. As the West seeks to revive the technology, the anniversary sends a chill warning.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0423-03.htm
Chernobyl still poses a lethal danger to the environment
http://english.pravda.ru/world/ussr/26-04-2006/79551-Chernobyl-0
Widows Recall the Painful Days After Chernobyl
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/04/26/016.html
Milinkevich: Belarus Obstructs Aid
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/04/26/012.html
ON 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF CHERNOBYL DISASTER, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS GENEROUS SUPPORT FOR TRAUMATIZED COMMUNITIES BEST WAY TO HONOUR VICTIMS
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2006/sgsm10432.doc.htm
CHERNOBYL: 20th ANNIVERSARY http://chernobyl.undp.org/english
Chernobyl Children’s Project International
http://www.chernobyl-international.org/2020.html
The Resurrection Chernobyl 20 years on
http://www.sundayherald.com/55003
Visions of Gamma Girl Chernobyl: one woman's journey into the dead zone
http://www.sundayherald.com/55006
Food Irradiation
Irradiated fruits and vegetables benefit the packer and grocer, not the farmer or consumer. The consumer receives an inferior product that appears fresh, but has depleted vitamins and enzymes.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/irradlink.html
No New Nuclear Power Plants Should Be Built; Renewable Technologies Are Capable of Meeting Our Energy Needs and Addressing Climate Change
Statement of Michele Boyd, Legislative Director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program
Twenty years ago, the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear station in the Ukraine served as a catastrophic reminder of the dangers of nuclear power. More than 400,000 people in the Ukraine, Russia and Belarus were evacuated, according to government estimates, and several million people were exposed to significant levels of radioactive fallout. About 25,000 of the 600,000 emergency responders have since died as a result of radiation exposure. The contamination has rendered 4,440 square kilometers of agricultural land and 6,820 square kilometers of forests in Belarus and the Ukraine unusable. People, especially children, throughout the Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia, as well as Western Europe, are still suffering from the health effects of this disaster.
Despite its dangers, nuclear power has received renewed attention recently and is now being touted as a way to reduce emissions that contribute to global warming. With the support of the Bush administration and $13 billion in taxpayer subsidies in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, nuclear utilities are proposing to build new nuclear reactors at more than a dozen sites across the United States. This is a bad idea for several reasons. First, it would create large quantities of nuclear waste, which the nuclear industry still has not figured out how to dispose of. Second, it would make communities throughout the country newly vulnerable to nuclear accidents. Third, it would encourage nuclear weapons proliferation by generating large amounts of plutonium, which would be vulnerable to theft or diversion. Moreover, because of high capital costs, a lengthy construction process and polluting waste, new nuclear reactors are one of the least effective options for reducing carbon emissions.
Renewable energy – which includes solar, wind, advanced hydro, certain types of biomass and geothermal energy – can be harnessed more quickly and cheaply, and without significant carbon emissions, destructive mining or radioactive waste. According to a new analysis by Public Citizen based on the work of governments, universities and other organizations in the United States, Europe and Japan, a diverse mix of existing renewable technologies can meet U.S. energy needs over the coming decades.
Twenty years after the Chernobyl disaster, the risks of nuclear power are all the more evident. The United States should leave nuclear technology behind and immediately and comprehensively embrace renewable energy.
Public Citizen http://www.citizen.org
Please also see:
Petition the UN to stop promoting nuclear power
http://ctk.greenpeace.org/gp-en/ctk-collectors/respond?item%5fid=2047368&obj_skin_id=51
Chernobyl: A 20 Year Catastrophe; A Lesson for the Future
http://www.ippnw.org/chernobyl20.html
Scientific Facts on the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident (photo source)
http://www.greenfacts.org/chernobyl/index.htm
Chernobyl death toll grossly underestimated http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/chernobyl-deaths-180406
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster http://www.chernobyl.co.uk
Chernobyl: Hardly the last word
http://www.thebulletin.org/article.php?art_ofn=ma06flynn
Hospital number six: A first-hand report (PDF)
http://www.thebulletin.org/past_issues/042_007.htm
Chernobyl Twenty Years On
Twenty years ago this week, an unparalleled nuclear disaster struck. Its effects are still felt across Europe. As the West seeks to revive the technology, the anniversary sends a chill warning.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0423-03.htm
Chernobyl still poses a lethal danger to the environment
http://english.pravda.ru/world/ussr/26-04-2006/79551-Chernobyl-0
Widows Recall the Painful Days After Chernobyl
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/04/26/016.html
Milinkevich: Belarus Obstructs Aid
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/04/26/012.html
ON 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF CHERNOBYL DISASTER, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS GENEROUS SUPPORT FOR TRAUMATIZED COMMUNITIES BEST WAY TO HONOUR VICTIMS
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2006/sgsm10432.doc.htm
CHERNOBYL: 20th ANNIVERSARY http://chernobyl.undp.org/english
Chernobyl Children’s Project International
http://www.chernobyl-international.org/2020.html
The Resurrection Chernobyl 20 years on
http://www.sundayherald.com/55003
Visions of Gamma Girl Chernobyl: one woman's journey into the dead zone
http://www.sundayherald.com/55006
Food Irradiation
Irradiated fruits and vegetables benefit the packer and grocer, not the farmer or consumer. The consumer receives an inferior product that appears fresh, but has depleted vitamins and enzymes.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/irradlink.html