Dear President Obama,
Why Atomic Energy Should Not be Used to Generate Electricity:
The plants are inherently unsafe
· Most of the current plants are operating beyond their age limit.
· Failure to inspect and maintain them.
· Operators are sometimes not reporting safety hazards to NRC.
· Human error puts them at risk.
· When there is an accident, there is risk of injury and death to a large numbers of people, areas becoming uninhabitable and food becoming unsafe to eat.
· Since insurance companies are unwilling to insure them, government assumes the liability.
Problems with spent fuel (atomic waste)
· It must be kept under water to cool it and protect personnel from radiation.
· There is no safe way to dispose of it after it can be taken out of the water. It is usually left on site. · It is dangerous for thousands of years.
· It can easily be used to make a “dirty bomb”.
Government must subsidize nuclear power plants in order that energy companies will invest in them.
Nuclear power costs twice as much as from other sources, including wind. China is developing thorium nuclear power.
It is much safer, there is plenty of thorium for fuel, it is less expensive to prepare and the waste is less dangerous.
Sincerely,
Albert A. Gabel
Professor Emeritus
Ohio State University
Why Atomic Energy Should Not be Used to Generate Electricity:
The plants are inherently unsafe
· Most of the current plants are operating beyond their age limit.
· Failure to inspect and maintain them.
· Operators are sometimes not reporting safety hazards to NRC.
· Human error puts them at risk.
· When there is an accident, there is risk of injury and death to a large numbers of people, areas becoming uninhabitable and food becoming unsafe to eat.
· Since insurance companies are unwilling to insure them, government assumes the liability.
Problems with spent fuel (atomic waste)
· It must be kept under water to cool it and protect personnel from radiation.
· There is no safe way to dispose of it after it can be taken out of the water. It is usually left on site. · It is dangerous for thousands of years.
· It can easily be used to make a “dirty bomb”.
Government must subsidize nuclear power plants in order that energy companies will invest in them.
Nuclear power costs twice as much as from other sources, including wind. China is developing thorium nuclear power.
It is much safer, there is plenty of thorium for fuel, it is less expensive to prepare and the waste is less dangerous.
Sincerely,
Albert A. Gabel
Professor Emeritus
Ohio State University