by Walt Robbins

Created on: July 02, 2009   Last Updated: July 03, 2009

The initial batch of world nuclear plants is aging, getting brittle from constant radiation bombardment, and will require decommissioning over the short run. Building new reactors now would not add much, if anything, to the world's energy needs as they will simply be replacing the old ones going off line.

Furthermore, It seems now that many of these nuclear plant expansion ideas are too expensive, especially in the light of the world economic slowdown. The Government of Ontario recently indefinitely suspended its plans for nuclear expansion as a result of its cost analysis of proposals it received. The expense is quite prohibitive.

As for environmental impacts, in addition to all the safety, security and nuclear waste concerns, it has been demonstrated by scientific research that nuclear energy production produces large quantities of green house gas. As Canada's Pembina Institute found, "...total greenhouse gas emissions associated with uranium mining, milling, refining, conversion and fuel fabrication in Canada are estimated at between 240,000 and 366,000 tonnes."

More reactors means more nuclear waste, for which no acceptable solution has been found. Even if "historical" nuclear waste is transported to some central repositories, the more recent waste must remain at the reactor sites for decades before if can be moved. So, as long as the reactors are operating, there will always be a significant inventory of the waste on site. Don't forget that most reactors are near major cities with large populations and accidents or terror attacks could cause havoc.

More reactors also means more opportunity for weapons proliferation. You cannot have nuclear weapons without first having nuclear energy production. Some of the countries now working on nuclear energy are likely to have nuclear weapons as a main objective. The world already has enough nuclear weapons grade proliferation.

In general then, expansion of nuclear power requires processes which cause noxious emissions as well as highly irradiated toxic fuel waste, uses non-renewable and ever more costly uranium deposits with increasing amounts of energy inputs, emits radioactive tritium into the air and water, contributes greatly to the Canadian national debt, is the basis for nuclear weapons proliferation, and is a desirable target for terrorism. It is a technology that must have an impossible-to-achieve perfect record of zero tolerance for serious accidents over an entire reactor life cycle, as there is no safe level of ionizing radiation.

Recent studies indicate that decentralized renewable energy and conservation can replace all the power produced by nuclear energy for less cost, less risk and greater economic opportunities across the board.

We need to phase out nuclear energy and rapidly build our green energy society.

http://www.nukeshaft.ca

Learn more about this author, Walt Robbins.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.