On May 19, 2006, President Bush said the the U.S.A. "must start building nuclear power plants" --"as a key part of a clean, secure, energy future". He gave a speech claiming," By expanding our use of nuclear power, we can make our energy supply more reliable, our environment cleaner,and our future more secure for future generations." His speech given to The Nuclear Energy Institute, an organization that promotes the use of nuclear energy, was intended to bolster public opinion for his energy plan that focuses upon nuclear energy proliferation, and oil exploration in pristine Alaska wildlife refuges, and in coastal areas of the U.S.A. I do not know the source of President Bush's belief that nuclear power is both safe and clean, but his belief is erroneous and dangerous. Nuclear power is both unsafe and it produces extremely dangerous contaminants that can poison water supplies for untold ages as the emitted radiation causes cancer and other diseases. Catastrophic accidents such as the Chernobyl disaster have caused thousands of deaths and long lasting radioactive fallout in most of Europe, as well as other parts of the world. The children of Chernobyl, who live, will become the innocent victims of the residual radiation for the rest of their lives, even though evacuated from the most severely contaminated regions nearby.
Fortunately, the meltdown at Chernobyl, represents a unitary, and rare, occurrence. However, it discloses the severity of the potential danger. Furthermore, the operation of nuclear power plants inevitably creates radioactive wastes and leakage that represents a continuous hazard to life. The nuclear fuel rods that are depleted and no longer capable of providing useful energy must be stored and contained so that radioactive material does not contaminate the surroundings. Every nuclear plant is currently storing its waste that is the equivalent of a leaking time bomb. The containment vessels used to store the deadly waste will eventually corrode and leak lethal radioactive material. Our Congress and the Nuclear Regulatory Agency have been trying to develop a solution for the waste problem for decades. A site in Nevada has been designated for a massive waste repository, but Nevada folks and politicians say NO! Can you blame them?
Another source of insidious contamination that is seldom discussed, or publicly described by government officials, is the release of low-level radioactive water from nuclear power plants on a virtually daily basis. Radioactive hydrogen, called tritium, that becomes part of the water molecule in a nuclear power plant is released as steam or liquid usually into the air, lakes, and oceans that are nearby. The tritium enters the environment where, as water, it become part of us. Rain and snow will deposit small amounts of tritium even in areas that are very remote from the source power plant. Ground water will become contaminated and the aquifers we depend upon for our drinking water will also. The amount of leakage is very small, but the danger arises because tritium has a half-life of about 12.1 years. This means that half of the radioactivity, that cause cancers and other diseases, will dissipate in that length of time. The total radioactivity never entirely dissipates. The 12.1 year half life also means that every drop that you sip may retain its radioactivity in your body indefinitely. The gradual buildup of radioactive water in your skeletal structure and body organs are like the ticking time bomb, slowly incubating cellular mutations that are the precursors of cancer.
In our state of Wisconsin we have two Nuclear power plants that provide power to northeastern Wisconsin including Door County. They are the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant and the Point Beach Nuclear Power plant near Manitowoc. Two other nuclear power plants serve southern and eastern Wisconsin in Minnesota, and Illinois areas that boarder Wisconsin.All of these plants leak tritium as part of the liquid water effluents that get into the environment and ultimately into us. Recently, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission(NRC), the federal organization that oversees and regulates nuclear power plants, decided that a proposed increase in electrical output from the Kewaunee plant would not significantly increase the radioactive tritium containing effluents. Their statement published in the Federal Register, Dec, 23, 2003 included the following: " Tritium releases in the gaseous effluents increase in proportion to the increased tritium production, which is directly related to to core power---." " The maximum increase in doses for gaseous and liquid effluents is estimated to be 17.6%. The estimated doses are a very small fraction of that allowable under Appendix I." As a result of the NRC analysis the report concluded: " On the basis of of the environmental assessment, the NRC concludes that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed action." So be it! Aren't you secure in knowing that you are safe even though more radioactive tritium will be released into the environment. Not a peep was heard from residents in northeastern Wisconsin, since who knows what goes on behind the scenes of the NRC? However in Illinois, some folks got wind of the tritium problem and stirred the political pot.
On February 24, 2006 the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency met with representatives of the Illinois Nuclear Power Plant in Briarwood.This meeting was a followup to the disclosure that all of the Nuclear Power Plants operated by Exelon in Illinois were being investigated because tritium was found in ground water and wells in various parts of Illinois. The outcome of this investigation is unknown, but the state is trying to determine how many people may have been effected by the tritium leakage.
How about doing the same in Wisconsin? When will those of us living in Northeastern Wisconsin learn how many of us have had a sip of radioactive water from the nuclear power plants in Kewuanee and Point Beach? How about asking Congressman Green and Senators Kohl and Feingold to get the EPA to investigate. Maybe we can get some of the politicians in our state to get the answers that we are due. How about starting the investigation NOW! Who wants a sip of radioactive water?
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Zeep
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