President Obama’s Delusion and the “Nuclear Power = ‘Clean’ Energy” Meme

Okay. One more time. Nuclear power is neither safe nor clean.

As I listened to Obama give his speech, I couldn’t understand why he was buying into this big lie. Nuclear energy is not clean. It does not equate to wind and solar. It’s not even close. Just a couple of points here:

Emissions are not the only consideration at a nuclear plant. Contamination is much more serious. And the recent reports of nuclear plants contaminating surrounding ground water are more than a little alarming.

There is no such thing as a “safe” dose of radiation and just because nuclear pollution isn’t visually there for all to see with thick, black smoke belching out of gigantic smokestacks, doesn’t mean it’s “clean.” For years nuclear plants have been leaking radioactive waste from underground pipes and radioactive waste pools into the ground water at sites across this nation.

There are nuclear sites that are Superfund sites because of the contamination to the areas that surround them — particularly the areas where waste has been disposed of in an unsafe manner for decades. These are the most contaminated patches of land in the country, yet this President has the audacity to call it “clean technology.” What planet is he on?

Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago is a nuclear superfund site. So is Hanford Washington. So is the Idaho National Laboratory and the Nuclear Metals, Inc. site in Concord, Massachusetts, as well as the Gulf Nuclear superfund site in Odessa, Texas, and the Maxey Flats site in Kentucky and the Savannah River site in South Carolina and the Rocky Flats site outside of Denver… the list is very long. And available for all to see — including our President. Why does he ignore the history?

In his address this morning, he’s quoting “experts” from the “energy industry” as PROOF that it’s clean technology. *sigh* I’m sure if he asked Exxon, they would insist oil is “environmentally safe.” The same way that Massey Coal or Peabody believes coal has the capacity to be “clean” through carbon sequestration. Once again, it looks like we have the proverbial Fox writing the nuclear policy for the Henhouse here!

But the gigantic 800-pound gorilla in the Oval Office is the fact that unless and until there is a SAFE DISPOSAL METHOD to deal with the waste, it would be complete folly to continue to create the most hazardous waste known to mankind. And it’s especially insulting when this is proposed as a viable alternative to “dirty” energy sources that we all agree should be phased out as soon as possible. But nuclear power isn’t the answer.

Even a small amount of exposure to radioactive material is dangerous. There are very serious and obvious reasons to look at this subject much more carefully before we decide to guarantee $8 billion in loans to private industry to build and operate these plants. They are very costly to build, and very costly to operate, and without government subsidies, the power generated would be very expensive. The only insurance that can be obtained by these operators is through the Federal Government, as private insurers won’t touch them. It’s a ridiculous boondoggle to taxpayers, and the promise of cheap electricity/clean electricity/getting off foreign oil doesn’t begin to tell the whole story.

Why has the President set aside $11 million to “fight nuclear-related lawsuits” brought by citizens against the Federal Government if this is so safe? It seems the President is very aware of the problems inherent in the use of nuclear power and enriching nuclear material for these plants. Otherwise, why put away funds for lawsuits in the budget? Can’t have it both ways, Mr. President!

So much for trying to be “fiscally responsible.” This could end up costing us much more than I think the American people are willing to pay. If they were told the TRUTH about this industry, that is.