The strong nuclear force, the binding energy that makes atomic nuclei the most tightfisted entities in all creation, had been sundered, unleashing enormous power—the equivalent of 15,000 tons (13,600 metric tons) of TNT in the Hiroshima bomb—as well as a race to create bigger weapons. Seven years later our first hydrogen device, code-named Mike, yielded a blast equal to 10.4 million tons (9.4 million metric tons) of TNT. Mike would have leveled all five boroughs of New York City.
By the mid-1960s, the height of the Cold War, the U.S. had stockpiled around 32,000 nuclear warheads, as well as mountains of radioactive garbage from the production of plutonium for these weapons. Just one kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, of plutonium required around a thousand tons of uranium ore. Generated from uranium bombarded by neutrons in a nuclear reactor, the plutonium was later separated from the uranium in hellish baths of acids and solvents still awaiting disposal.
A long deferred cleanup is now under way at 114 of the nation's nuclear facilities, which encompass an acreage equivalent to Rhode Island and Delaware combined. Many smaller sites, the easy ones, have been cleansed, but the big challenges remain.
What's to be done with 52,000 tons (47,000 metric tons) of dangerously radioactive spent fuel from commercial and defense nuclear reactors? With 91 million gallons (345 million liters) of high-level waste left over from plutonium processing, scores of tons of plutonium, more than half a million tons of depleted uranium, millions of cubic feet of contaminated tools, metal scraps, clothing, oils, solvents, and other waste? And with some 265 million tons (240 million metric tons) of tailings from milling uranium ore—less than half stabilized—littering landscapes? — Nuclear Information Resource Service (www.nirs.org)
Much of the most radioactive material is scheduled to be hauled across the country to the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository in Nevada -- moving precicely through many American back yards. This program has an incalculable potential for disaster for many years to come.
Given the facts, is there any way to claim with a straight face that nuclear energy is safe and clean?
This piece is so timely and relevant and vital for all to understand. Why does America continue to build more nuclear power plants instead of pursuing clean sources of energy like solar and wind power? MONEY! Some individuals are profiteering on the earth's destruction, giving no thought, whatsoever, about how worthless their money will be once they've destroyed everything around them. Other countries are now following the U.S. lead and developing their own nuclear capabilities. All without considering the FACT that there is NO SAFE PLACE to store nuclear waste. The fire is raging and the sheeple can't even smell the smoke. And the beat goes on ...
Love & Light always and in all ways,
Joseph*
CJ
Ron