RANT: The Madness of Nuclear Energy!

My rant for today is on the sheer madness of nuclear energy. In this 'Clean Energy Week' that ends today, it seems only fitting.

This is one of those issues that makes me MAD as hell! The sheer stupidity of the arguments for this type of energy are a constant reminder to me of the unbelievable short-sightedness of so many people. It's frightening.

The reasons to be TOTALLY, UTTERLY & COMPLETELY AGAINST nuclear energy are so rock-solid in their logic that any assertion to the contrary simply defies any logic. Consider the reasons why I am against nuclear energy:

1. Safety: Much is made of the safety measures that are in place in today's modern and 'fail safe' nuclear power stations. Nuclear specialists pooh-pooh the idea that they are unsafe, citing how much safer they are today, compared to, say, twenty years or more ago when Chernobyl nearly wiped out most of Europe. I have no doubt that today's more modern nuclear stations are alot safer. BUT, I have three things to say:

(a) As any safety specialist will tell you, there is no such thing as a 100% 'fail safe' safety and security program. There is always a chance that something may go wrong (usually due to a human - error, negligence, stupidity, etc);

(b) What of all those older, less modern nuclear power stations that are out there and still in use? Ahem...uh huh...what of them?

AND...

(c) WHY TAKE THE RISK??? Even IF the chance of a nuclear meltdown or any other nuclear-related accident is infinitesimal, is it really worth taking even such a small risk when the repercussions (i.e. of what will actually happen in the event of a nuclear accident) can be so utterly CATASTROPHIC???!

Just here in South Africa it is still claimed that a nuclear accident at Koeberg in Cape Town could wipe out most of the Western Cape in a worst case scenario. Yeah, that seems a risk well worth taking.

2. COST: An excuse used ad nauseum here in South Africa is that nuclear energy will be so much more 'cost-effective' than the use of renewable, greener technologies, e.g. the use of solar, wind, geothermal, etc types of energy. Our local monopolistic energy provider (Eskom, who have in recent years completely redefined the meaning of the words 'gross incompetence' to new levels) trumpets nuclear energy as a cost-effective alternative to our aging, carbon-belching coal-fired power stations. And they have the government completely bought on that notion.

As if building (and, thereafter, maintaining) a nuclear power station cost mere pennies, or somehow miraculously arises out of the sand, like some futurist mirage.

Rubbish.

They are damn expensive to build and, if already built, expensive to maintain...AND need we start quantifying the actual costs of low-grade radiation, especially to workers, radioactive waste, the cost (oh my word) were an accident to occur, etc, etc. Yeah, real cheap.

3. ENVIRONMENTAL: Ahem...can anyone tell me where all the radioactive waste from a nuclear power station is going to be disposed of, because I sure as hell hope it won't be in the local municipal or even hazardous waste landfill sites. Scientists vary on just how long the radioactivity of nuclear waste will persist in the environment - and these estimations don't vary by weeks or months of or even years - no, they vary by thousands of years. Estimations vary anywhere between 10 000 and 100 000 years or more, depending on who you read. Gosh, there's a sustainable legacy for this planet and future generations (what's left of their radioactive selves)...

On that last point, the fact that the nuclear energy industry (the multi-billion dollar worldwide industry it is) has somehow, unbelievably, usurped the green movement and made so many people actually believe that nuclear energy is both 'renewable' and 'CLEAN' is, well, stupendous!!! What an amazing, mind-blowing bit of PR wizardry that little stunner has been! In fact, I'm in awe of the sheer chutzpah and, well, balls it took for that industry to somehow paint itself as being a 'green alternative', when it is ANYTHING BUT THAT! Oh boy - how the hell did that happen? The mind boggles...the stomach turns.

No, no and NO again!

NO to nuclear energy.
NO to it being called a 'clean' and 'renewable' energy source.
NO to whatever the governments and nuclear industries of the UK, France, Germany, South Africa, Iran, Russia and many other countries who push for nuclear energy might say about its 'positive' aspects
NO to it being trumpeted as an alternative to greenhouse gas emitting energy like that from coal or oil.
NO to it being one of our 'salvations' in the battle against climate change.
NO to yet another multi-national, mega-rich and very well-connected industry usurping governments, political discourse, energy budgets and people all over the world with its lies and deception.

NO, NO, NO!!!

Do you get my point?