Dear Editor:
Recently President Obama pledged $8 billion for new nuclear reactors. I am personally frustrated with Obama's plans to promote nuclear power and am concerned that the administration has not planned a strategy for safe, long-term storage of radioactive waste.
Obama claims that nuclear power will allow us to transition into utilizing renewable energies. However I am pessimistic that the president will endorse renewable energy such as wind and solar power in the future.
Nuclear power is costly, potentially catastrophic, inefficient, and Uranium is a non-renewable resource and nuclear power plants are targets for terrorist attacks. In the State of the Union Address Obama repeatedly referred to the importance of clean energy. In my opinion clean coal, nuclear power, and opening of new areas for offshore drilling do not represent clean energies or progress. Increased production and incentives for this type of "clean energy" are a step in the wrong direction.
Emily Mead
39 University Drive
Bethlehem, PA 18015
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Comments
Dear Emily,
Nuclear Power is actually the cheapest energy source in terms of cost per kilowatt-hour. Nuclear power plants built to the standards we use in the United States are actually about as safe as any power source there is. For example, the Three Mile Island accident is about as severe an accident as you can have and it resulted in exactly 0 deaths. Nuclear power is also clean. All of the nuclear waste that has ever been produced from power plant operation would actually be able to fit in the area of one football field to the depth of about 4 feet. As far as terrorist attacs, anyone who knows the truth about how plants are constructed in the United States knows it would not be feasable to destroy the plant in such a manner as to release the fission byproducts. Do not use Chernobyl as a model for what can happen here, the Soviets did not use nearly the safety measures we use, and those few they did use were overriden at the time of the accident.
Additionally, uranium is not quite renewable, but with the proper methods it could last nearly forever, making it seudo-renewable. Learn the facts before you express your opinion