The problem with nuclear fission is that the stakes are unimaginably high.
There is no such thing as a fail-safe system... stuff happens.
Nuclear power is not safe there, nor should it be considered safe anywhere.
And in our country, like in Japan... you would think it would be a no-brainer that atomic reactors would not be built near quake fault lines, and close to the coast where they would be directly in the path of tsunamis ... but guess what, Japan has more than a few that were, and California's got several that are as well...
... and when ya do some checking, would bet there would be a bunch of others in the US in addition.
These plants are now releasing radioactive steam into the atmosphere. Be skeptical about the statements that the "levels are not dangerous."... made by the same people who said these meltdowns could never happen.
Over years, not days, there may be a thousand people, two thousand, ten thousand who will suffer from cancers induced by this radiation. The carcinogenic isotopes that are released at Fukushima are already floating to Seattle with effects we simply cannot measure.
So far, there has not been much reporting on problems with spent fuel storage pools, but these pools that hold used fuel rods could prove to be the most dangerous of all facets of the disaster. They contain vast amounts of radiation, several times the amount in a reactor core. Spent fuel rod pools are actually highly radioactive, very unstable, extremely dangerous and, compared with reactors, not well supported, contained or looked over.
Expose them to air for a day or two, and they begin to combust, giving off large amounts of radioactive cesium-137, a very toxic, long-lasting, aggressively penetrating radioactive element with a half-life of thirty years. When cesium-137 it enters the environment, it essentially acts like potassium and is taken up by plants and animals that use potassium. (For the record, that includes you.)
If these spent fuel pools lose their cooling source, they could spew radiation into the atmosphere, creating a tragedy of even greater proportions than did the 1986 nuclear accident at Chernobyl in the Ukraine.
Should the spent rods start to burn, huge amounts of radioactive material would be released into the atmosphere and would disperse across the Northern Hemisphere.
Note: At Fukushima each reactor has between 60 and 83 tons of spent fuel rods stored next to them.
And in the U.S., Vermont Yankee has a staggering 690 tons of spent fuel rods on site.
How much disaster are we talking about?
The atomic bomb that exploded at Hiroshima created about 2,000 curies of radioactivity.
Spent fuel pools at Vermont Yankee are said to hold about 75,000,000 curies of radioactivity.
With the risk of extreme events becoming greater as each day passes, it's really only a matter of time before a disastrous situation will occur in this country as happened in Japan.
The track record of the atomic energy industry in the United States—less so in Japan—is to spend as little money as possible and extend the life of old plants for as long as possible, no matter the risks.
Once again, all the government seems to have the stomach for and chooses to do in these matters is close its' eyes and 'hope for the best.'
Heaven help us... cause Obama won't.
Japan’s Nuclear Nightmare: The Price of Technological Optimism | Common Dreams
