The best nuclear links - the pros and the cons

Pocari Sweat

www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=953308

THE BEST NUCLEAR LINKS
Recommended by Care2 Staff


The American Nuclear Society - seeks to safely apply nuclear energy for the benefit of the public. Find original resources on nuclear medicine and energy, nuclear transportation, and even nuclear techniques used in different industries.

Atomic Archive - Educational site that sports some genuinely intriguing features, like a timeline of atomic history, and damage maps of historical atomic bomb blasts. Site is a companion to an educational CD-ROM, which can be purchased online.

The Citizen's Awareness Network - is a grassroots, volunteer organization concerned with environmental pollution and health issues surrounding exposure to toxins.

The Citizen's Nuclear Information Center - focuses its critical eye on the nuclear policies of Japan. Here you can find news, online action info, and a listing of nuclear shipments in and out of Japan.

The Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety - offer the latest news on nuclear protests and activism around the United States. Access many of their editorials and articles or find out how to get involved.

Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science - Best Known for the Doomsday Clock, they offer reporting on international security, military affairs, and nuclear issues. Find back issues with the archive search.

The Greenpeace nuclear campaign - Find out what Greenpeace is doing to combat nuclear arms, power, and unsafe waste disposal.

The How Stuff Works Website - has illustrated and informative on the physics of nuclear technology. Learn why nuclear power and nuclear bombs are so darn powerful - and dangerous.

Nuclear Energy Institute - advocates a shift to the use of nuclear energy, and presents an environmental argument for doing so. Read through their fact sheets about the energy harnessing process, plus see some intriguing photos, like a train smacking into a transportation container for nuclear waste.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission - was established by congress to ensure adequate protection of the public health and the environment in the use of nuclear materials.

The Nuclear Resister - makes available information and support for imprisoned anti-nuclear and anti-war activists. Read select articles from their printed publication.

The Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management - tries to address public concern about the disposal of radioactive waste with a wealth of articles. Hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Public Citizen's - webpage confronts the risks of all types of nuclear radiation. Find the latest activism news, plus information on topics from food irradiation to national radioactive waste policy.

The Uranium Information Center - provides extensive information on mining and nuclear electricity generation. Funded by companies involved in uranium exploration, mining and export in Australia.

The World Nuclear Association - best known for their AutoEssay which features fifty multimedia-filled pages on the role of nuclear power in the world. These pages present facts and destroy myths about the realm of nuclear power. Why does the world need nuclear energy? Find out more at this well-organized site

SeanW

For your daily dose of FUD and propoganda, visit Greenpeace's tribute to Chernobyl Certificate #000358.

Merciful christ, why does every anti nuclear argument have to start with "please think of this Chernobyl child" headline? Doesn't the fact that the Soviets used an awful reactor technology, badly built and worsely run by an incompetent government, count for anything with these people?

Problem is the above does not make as good a headline as "she's more than just a number ..."

Pocari Sweat

Yeah but the chokey pro-fossils, think communism is still going strong and they are gonna mess up again with some forgotten old rusky nuke station like its a foregone conclusion and in any case all other nukes round the world are shabby aul cock ups ready to fall down and because unlike coal, you can burn coal in yer own fire, and it is simple enough to burn it in a big ole set up and keep it uncomplicated like.

With current reactor technology, the record is an exceptional hands down no brainer in safety superiority against coal, and over the next 50 years the level of extreme performance / ultra safety built into nukes, is going to make the first knob head, who quotes some crap about this form of power being somehow fallable, all cos of the regrettable 9 belarusian deaths and the number of illnesses that were the result of communist policy and not because of the inherent workings of safe nukes, well it will make their argument a poof's argument to put it brashly.

So historically, nuke power, not in the bad old days of the 80's but more in terms of the isolated example of communist nuke, one-off Chernobyl, worst case scenario = 9 civilian deaths over 20 years, 90% of those shortly after the event and nothing new in the last ten years. (Go mad and say official figures are toss and lets use other debateable claims and call death stats potential reduction of longevity in fallout zone of lives affected and notch it up to 1,000, or 10,000) then compare it to coal.

Coal, ah, 25,000 government calculated civilian deaths every year just due to the use of the black smelly stuff alone in one country - US. Oh, yeah and thats every year, (call it a million coal deaths in the US since nukes have been around). Russia is fairly comparable to US size wise and a sizeable player in nuke and coal etc.

So a bit of FUD analysis. Next 50 years what to do. Mmmm .. nuke, past history its first 50 years of development, worst cock up, 9 civilian deaths, next 50 years, ooh all those high tech saftey systems, fine tuning, fail safe build quality, errr ... what if still, terrorists, unforseen fault etc, another 9 deaths or 1,000 or 10,000, just not worth the risk?

But next 50 years coal in just US alone, another million deaths. Add all coal countries together, in next 50 years, coal deaths 10 million? Oooh yes I'll have some of them there safe 10 million deaths stats for coal, don't like the dirty old nuke even if there are a 1,000 deaths or even no deaths in the next 50 years.

Any alien visiting earth to help out on the debate, would say feck coal, let nuke do its worse, risk the worst total feck up and have another 9 or 10 deaths, unlikley but communism could return, coupled with mass amnesia regarding all nuclear saftey developments over decades, and put into use old designs and practices use in old russia just for the hell of it, but hey it is still a million per cent safer than coal.

Pocari Sweat

Ironically, it is people like Green Peace who would absolutely feckin love it, if there was another Chernobyl, they would have a feckin wánk fest.

The pro-nukes would never wish another chernobyl on their worst enemy, but putting lives first you have to say nukes instead of coal.

Get another child in the US suffering from chronic asthma, or a child labourer working in one of china's mainly unlicenced coal mines, or pick out one of the graves of the millions that have died because of coal, and do a heartbreaking sob story how it has shattered their lives and why coal is so evil.

It would be a bit pathetic, but put the teary emotion to one side and the figures would say shove coal back in the ground for christ's sake.