I have fielded many questions and accusations from friends, family and colleagues regarding nuclear power, based on their television understanding. I am nowhere near an expert, but does it require more than a few examples like the one below to get the big picture here?
It seems to me that if people would wake the hell up and start questioning what they’re being fed on the surface, and have a quick look at what’s been slipping by their deficient radar, the overhead light bulbs would glow, cartoon-style. How could they not?
THIS IS OBVIOUS. THIS SHIT IS HORRIBLY DANGEROUS… AND WE’RE NOT GOING TO BENEFIT ENOUGH TO MAKE UP FOR THE COST.
We know that this is true financially. Have a look at NUKEFREE.ORG’s ATOMIC ECONOMICS for details: http://www.nukefree.org/facts/uninsurable.
We also know that nuclear power’s negative impact on the environment will always outweigh the dubious benefit of not releasing the same air pollutants as traditional energy sources. Check out nuclear power’s “Power Scorecard”: http://www.powerscorecard.org/tech_detail.cfm?resource_id=7
But even if no other reason existed, isn’t it enough to know that radiation exposure… even small doses over a prolonged period of time… will cause cancers that destroy human life… and get passed on in the form of severe birth defects and more cancer?
Isn’t this enough? http://fotomat.cz/chernobyl/index.htm
Isn’t this enough? http://www.magnumphotos.com/Archive/c.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.BookDetail_VPage&pid=2K7O3R18ZXL8
Maybe this will be enough…
i hope so. -tk
February 08, 2008 (Associated Presshttp://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/apwire/47998a270c32014d0ea65af94faaa0a2.htmNEW YORK – Atlantic Richfield Co. has offered $27.5 million to settle claims that pollution from a nuclear fuel processing plant damaged nearby residents’ property and caused cancer and other illnesses.ARCO and plaintiff attorneys asked a federal judge to approve the proposed settlement in a joint motion filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh this week.
The case concerns the former Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp., or NUMEC, which processed uranium and plutonium for nuclear submarines and other purposes at a plant in Apollo borough and another in neighboring Parks Township, about 35 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. The Apollo plant was built in 1957, and the Parks plant was built a few years later.
Residents say they inhaled white radioactive dust for three decades and that microscopic particles of uranium from the plant caused an unusually high cancer rate. A doctor once testified that 351 of Apollo’s 1,895 residents, or nearly one in five, had been diagnosed with some form of cancer.
Atlantic Richfield Co. bought both plants in 1967 and sold them to Babcock & Wilcox Co. in 1971.
The settlement provides “a fairly nice cash award to each of our clients,” said Frederick M. Baron, a Dallas attorney who also represented Karen Silkwood in her radiation-poisoning case. “But more importantly, they retain their ability to continue against Babcock & Wilcox. They are the most responsible party in our view.”
More than 300 people filed claims that fell into three groups: property damage, personal injury and wrongful death.
Personal injury and wrongful death claims under the proposed settlement are “by and large are in the six-figure area,” Baron said Friday. Property damage claims would be $10,000 or less.
An attorney for ARCO declined to comment Friday.
But in court documents, attorneys for both sides called the proposed settlement fair because it’s not known what, if anything, the plaintiffs might ultimately win from ARCO.
Attorneys for the various companies who ran the nuclear plants have argued that radioactive emissions had been filtered out and that, even if residents had been exposed, radiation levels were too low to cause cancer or other illnesses.
In a 1998 U.S. District Court trial in Pittsburgh, eight test plaintiffs won $36.7 million from ARCO and Babcock & Wilcox. A judge, however, ordered a retrial after determining that she had wrongly allowed some evidence in the case.
The retrial was delayed when Babcock & Wilcox filed bankruptcy, largely because of unrelated asbestos litigation. ARCO opted to settle claims against it before they can be retried.
Earlier this year, former workers at the Apollo site became part of a special compensation class for sick nuclear workers. The fund entitles them to $150,000 each.
To qualify for the compensation, former workers must have worked at the Apollo plant for at least 250 days between 1957 and 1983 and have one of 22 different cancers. Sick workers who do not have one of the 22 cancers may be eligible for compensation, but must meet different criteria.
Atlantic Richfield is owned by BP plc.
