Week 14: Nuclear Wast

The videos about nuclear power plants, and in particular the Prairie Island Plant, expressed the many public health and safety concerns regarding the placement of the plants themselves and the areas designated for waste management. The videos broke down the five problems that society’s dependence on nuclear energy creates. The first is broken reactor components. Less than one third of the energy is used as electricity and the remaining energy is either released into the air as vapor or removed as waste. The tubes within the plant crack and thus leak. While cracks can be plugged, it is only a temporary solution. Cracks within the tubes can only be repaired so many times before more intense measures must be taken. This increases the potential for steam generator tube degradation to cause a nuclear meltdown. The degradation of tubes can be extremely dangerous. The rules regulating the plants did not take into consideration the possibility of cascading tube ruptures, and the cooling systems were not designed to prevent a core meltdown. During a radioactive meltdown, radioactive materials will most defiantly infiltrate the ground below the plant and make their way into the surrounding rivers. In the event of a radioactive meltdown, Prairie Island, and I’m assuming many other area near a nuclear power plant, their only option would to evacuate and abandon the area. Prairie Island does not have a well equipped evacuation plan if such a thing were to occur. Even when a nuclear power plant is running without problems, they are continually releasing radioactive vapor into the air that public officials are unaware of where the emissions go or concentrate. Tritium is released into water and when Tritium water is ingested it will cause continuous internal exposure to radiation over a long period of time. . There are three toxic elements released, each dangerous when inhaled. The first is Cesium 137 which mimics sodium and is attracted to fatty tissues in the body, most often women’s breasts. The next is Iodine 137 that concentrates in the Thyroid and effects the body’s immune system. The radiation acts as positive and negative ions in our bodies and kills living tissue and dissolves cell walls, leading to cancer, mutations, and other diseases. A study found that women living in areas within 100 miles of a nuclear power plant had a breast cancer rate 16% higher than other women and also a higher mortality rate. Yucca Mountain is the site for nuclear waste, but it is not the best place for it to be stored. One reason is that it is located near active volcanos and is an area where there are frequent earthquakes. Additionally, many nuclear plants desire to transport their nuclear waste to that site, causing potential public health and security issues. Yucca Mountain is also sacred land to the Western Shoshones and the plant violates the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley. Most nuclear waste plants are on Native American land, near large Hispanic communities, or mostly African American communities creating nuclear racism.