I'm divided on the issue of Nuclear Power. On one hand I think its incredibly unfair to say Nuclear power is unsafe based on anything that is happening now in Japan..If anything these 40+ year old plants have exceeded expectations and survived, more or less, the worst of the worst scenario planned for them. We shouldnt be making policy choices based on super rare "acts of god". At the same time the company that runs these plants has been caught red handed lying to the public not once but twice and most utility companies seem to have similar records (Enron? BP? The Aaron Brockovich story?)
Nuclear Power has as many safety/health issues as any of the other power types. Coal destroys the Environment and gives people lung cancer. Hydo causes massive flooding if mishandled, kills whole species of fish and damages the river environment. Done right I think Nuclear is a good choice, even with the waste that you have to bury for 10,000 years before its safe. But we cant trust these utility companies to be safe with it. What brilliant mind decided it was a good idea to build 6 plants on the coast in one of the heaviest earthquake zones on the planet? We cant trust for profit companies to make the safe choices and until we can I think we are stuck with coal.
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