The events around Fukushima have raised awareness of the impact of nuclear spent fuel and the limitations of making an ultimately safe nuclear reactor. Residents have expressed concerns about the radioactivity found in the San Juan Islands, Seattle, Olympia and Spokane. EPA, FDA, NRC all claim radiation levels are ’1000s of times lower than any reason to be concerned’ – good, we’re all going about our business.
Irrespective, today’s nuclear energy eco-system has no approved disposal system, and the waste generated by nuclear reactors takes extremely expensive, highly complex storage planning, and that storage must be stable for at minimum 1,000 years.
We’re clearly not ready to make nuclear energy a clean, toxic free source as solar wind, tidal, geothermal are, already. Clearly investments in making nuclear safe are needed, and rather than subsidize today’s nuclear energy industry, perhaps we should be subsidizing the R&D around making nuclear energy safer, the waste products less costly to dispose of and focus on those energy tactics that mitigate nuclear risks.
The Petition link asks the Board of Directors of OPALCO, our local energy cooperative to take steps to eliminate supporting today’s nuclear energy reactors from our mix. At 8% its not much, but its a statement of *position* for the membership.
read the petition here.
Kind regards,
Alex Huppenthal
