NUCLEAR ENERGY EXPANSION
The renewed push for expansion of nuclear energy in the United States and Florida should be of great concern to us all. The inherent dangers of nuclear power to public safety and national security are significant. Currently there are five operating nuclear units in Florida and more are planned. Nuclear energy supplies approximately seventeen percent of the electricity generated in Florida.
Increased oil prices, global warming and additional taxpayer subsidies have revived the interests of Florida's power industry to expand nuclear energy production, but it is by no means certain that nuclear energy is needed.
Safe doses for radiation are misleading. The cumulative health effect from all of the daily individual safe doses of radiation exposure on humans is not known. Only a few radionuclide sources are currently regulated, making it appear to the public that no real hazard exists.
Proponents of nuclear power are currently exploiting public concern about global warming to justify nuclear power expansion, but nuclear energy is not the answer to global warming.
In the United States, electricity generation emits less than half of the carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon dioxide is a major contributing greenhouse gas and come mainly from burning fossil fuels. The majority of greenhouse gases come from transportation, industrial processes, agriculture, forestry, waste management and other land uses.
During the past 50 years both the federal government and nuclear industry have failed to develop a method to isolate and contain nuclear reactor waste for the duration of its radioactive life. The long term economic, environmental, and health impacts of nuclear waste disposal have not been fully realized. No nuclear waste programs, from high-level to low-level radiation are successful. Laws and policies governing nuclear waste disposal have not performed well. The problem of nuclear waste management has been a burden on our country for decades now.
The choice is not between the continued use of fossil fuels or building additional nuclear power plants. Another option, cheaper than any new energy supply and causing no increase in greenhouse gas emissions, is energy efficiency.
Energy efficiency and conservation saves money, reduces the need for coal mining and oil and natural gas drilling, reduces power plant emissions and makes America less dependent on foreign oil interests.
It is in the best interests of our environment, economy and national security to develop a truly renewable energy resource such as solar, and the sooner the better. Advances in the photovoltaic industry have made solar much more cost effective.
The nuclear power industry has enjoyed the luxury of receiving billions of taxpayer dollar subsidies for decades, its time to quit subsidizing nuclear power and change the nations energy policies and support truly renewable energy resources.
The public should remain skeptical about the questionable benefits of nuclear energy. Nuclear power continues to have the significant problems of proliferation, reactor safety, disposal of nuclear waste, occupational and public health risks associated with uranium mining, milling, and the nuclear fuel cycle.
Nuclear energy has serious limitations. Why should America continue to invest in a technology that can be catastrophic and places the burden of radioactive waste disposal on future generations?