Nuclear industry myth number one is they are absolutely safe and will be safe forever. Then we keep seeing news articles like these on a regular basis. M

French nuclear leak

To see the entire article, go to this link:
Uranium liquid leak in southern France - Europe - MSNBC.com

Uranium leaks into 2 southern France rivers

Solution spills from reservoir; authorities place bans on water use

PARIS - Liquid containing traces of unenriched uranium leaked Tuesday at a nuclear site in southern France, and some of the solution ran into two rivers, France's nuclear safety agency said.

Authorities banned the consumption of well water in three nearby towns and the watering of crops from the two rivers. Swimming, water sports and fishing were also banned.

A spokeswoman for the nuclear safety agency, Evangelia Petit, said about 7,925 gallons of solution containing uranium spilled at a factory at the Tricastin nuclear site, about 25 miles from the historic city of Avignon.

Another nuclear safety agency official, Charles-Antoine Louet, said the liquid contained about 794 pounds of unenriched natural uranium, which he said is toxic but only slightly radioactive.

It said the uranium, while not "very radioactive," is "excessively dangerous" for people if ingested.

Uranium liquid leak in southern France - Europe - MSNBC.com

Busting myths would be more effective if you weren't attacking strawmen. No one said anything is absolutely, 100% forever effective or safe. That's just silly talk. I bet you we won't see ZOMG LOLZ LOLZ ABANDONE NUUUUUUUUUUUUUCULARZ! from the french either. Because they aren't insane. They know it's an excellent investment.

The major danger, as said in the article, is material toxicisity, not radioactivity. Many energy sources can have a freak accident that leak toxic chemicals into water supplies. That's no reason to abandon use of that industry. If there were a spill of something else toxic into the river, I guess we should never use those facilities either, right? I mean really. Come on. Get real. Sometimes mining causes water pollution too. I guess we should never mine either.

__________________

And that is the apathy toward safety that leads to these incidents. Therefore they keep happening. Each time nuke energy apologists keep up the excuses case by case, but what we have now is a track record. That track record does not prove the point that nuclear energy is a safe investment for the future.

The total number of civilian nuclear accidents defined by the following:
is 23. This many accidents in 50-odd years of use (Look up "Nuclear Accidents" on wikipedia).

And you say there's a "track record" that proves that nuclear power is unsafe? Come on. Nuclear power's safety concerns are tiny and more than balanced by its incredible efficiency. Uranium produces 50,000 Kilowatt hours of energy per kilogram. Oil produces 12,000 kWh/kg, coal and natural gas produce 2-4 kWh/kg.
Construction of solar panels produces toxic wastes, too. Should we stop research into solar power, too?

Solar power, in addition, costs up to 20 cents per kWh, wind costs 5 cents per kWh, nuclear power costs 4 cents per kWh, making it actually the cheapest source of electricity we have.
The only real problem with nuclear power is waste, but if we're confident that scientific ingenuity will eventually make other alternative sources of energy more viable and efficient, why aren't we confident the same thing will happen with nuclear waste disposal? The best solution is, after we've constructed a space elevator, taking the waste into low earth orbit then pushing it out of the earth's gravity well.

Oh and here's my source: Comparison of Different Energy Sources

__________________
"Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states...Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds."



~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

With nuclear contamination, we are talking about substantial tracts of land over an extended period of time. That has already happened with the Hanford site in Washington. Wastes have leaked into the ground water. So that isn't just any accident you can compare with anything else.

The waste issue is NOT resolved. Nuke supporters point to Yucca Mountain, as I have mentioned previously. If we simply went ahead today and starting filling up this waste site, it would at capacity within a year or two with the wastes that are already laying around all over the country. Then we would need a new Yucca Mountain.

You're aware that dozens of industries create radioactive waste, correct? Shall we discontinue radioactive cancer treatment, too? Should we stop using X-rays? Plenty of other things have caused pollutants to leak into the environment. Coal and oil have had HUGE environmental pollution consequences, even if you ignore the greenhouse gas problem.

Yes, I know the waste issue is unsolved, which is why I said:

__________________
"Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states...Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds."



~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.