The Dirt on Nuclear Power
by Vicki Wolf, February 2008

Nuclear energy is being promoted as clean energy. While it’s true that nuclear power plants don’t emit green house gases that fuel global warming, the mining of uranium to fuel these plants is anything but clean. Water use is another issue. Millions of gallons of water per minute are boiled in the process of making electricity. In that process millions of fish are killed and all aquatic life is strained before the water is returned to its source. The yet unsolved nasty problem of long-term disposal of dangerous radioactive spent fuel is perhaps the greatest deterrent of all to nuclear power as a viable energy source.

NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG) has applied for the licensing of two new nuclear reactors for the South Texas Project in Matagorda County, near Bay City. Seven more new reactors are proposed for Texas. But these plants don’t need to be built. According to Arjun Makhijani, Ph.D., an electrical engineer, specialized in controlled nuclear fusion, there is no need to rely on the dirty energy of nuclear, fossil fuel or biofuels made from food crops for future energy needs. He has systematically analyzed the energy situation and found it is quite possible to have a clean energy future, relying on efficiency, conservation and clean, renewable technology.

The dirt on nuclear power begins with uranium mining, which can pollute aquifers and taint the drinking and irrigation water of nearby residents. Uranium is found in the rock lining fresh water aquifers. During the mining process, metals such as arsenic and selenium are freed from the aquifer rock along with the uranium. Radium-226, a substance much more radioactive than uranium, and radon also are released. When the uranium is separated from the other materials, the contaminated water is pumped back into the aquifer. In addition to the water contamination that is inherent in this process, there have been many reported radioactive spills during mining operations in South Texas.

The radioactivity of uranium, when inhaled or ingested, increases the risk of lung and bone cancers, and can damage kidneys and other internal organs.

People living in Goliad County, Texas know first hand the problems uranium mining can bring. Families living near the uranium mining areas in Goliad County, Texas have been unable to get the companies to clean up mining sites. The Railroad Commission, responsible for setting rules for mining and enforcing them, has been lax in both areas. According to Cyrus Reed, Lone Star Sierra Club conservation director, some wells down-flow of the mining have high levels of radioactivity and some are contaminated with a sludge that contains metallic deposits. At least one family has stopped using their well water and now imports water.

While uranium mining poisons ground water, nuclear plant operations use millions of gallons of water per minute, sending it back to its source lifeless. Tennessee Valley Authority plants in Alabama and Tennessee have been shut down because of drought, and others in the Southeast may be shut down if the drought continues.

Nuclear power plants use water when they are operating, when they are shut down, and in the event of an accident water availability can be critical. The reliability of nuclear power declines as droughts become more common.

All types of nuclear power plants withdraw large amounts of water from nearby lakes, rivers and oceans leaving the water warmer and lifeless when it is returned back to its source. New nuclear reactors being considered, if built would need more than 1,140,000 gallons of water per minute.

Fish larvae and other forms of aquatic life are strained from the water as it travels through thousands of metal tubes to become steam that turns the turbines to make electricity, then back through the system to be cooled and returned to its source. A 2005 study found that one coastal power plant in Southern California impinged nearly 3-and-a-half million fish in just one year.

The disposal of radioactive waste is another serious problem. The issues of nuclear waste have not been solved. Hundreds of thousands of tons of radioactive waste are produced each year. Experts say it will take a miracle to come up with a long-term solution for the safe disposal of radioactive waste. There are plans and proposals to send a lot of waste to Texas. One proposed site is Andrews County, Texas. Yucca Mountain, Nevada is the only site that is being considered in the United States for long-term disposal and it has been rejected by all the state’s representatives and senators.

So how will we meet energy needs of the future? Arjun Makhijani, PhD, has systematically studied solutions to the energy and global warming crisis and says a reliable U.S. electricity sector with zero carbon dioxide emissions can be achieved without the use of dirty nuclear power, fossil fuels or food crops for biofuel. His plan calls for the “Clean Dozen:”

1. Enact a physical limit of carbon dioxide emissions for all large users of fossil fuels that steadily declines to zero prior to 2060.
2. Eliminate all subsidies and tax breaks for fossil fuels and nuclear power (including guarantees for nuclear waste disposal from new power plants, loan guarantees and subsidized insurance).
3. Eliminate subsidies for biofuels from food crops.
4. Build demonstration plants for key supply technologies, including central station solar thermal with heat storage, large- and intermediate-scale solar photovoltaics and carbon dioxide capture in microalgae for liquid fuel production.
5. Leverage federal, state and local purchasing power to create markets for critical advanced technologies, including plug-in hybrids.
6. Ban new coal-fired power plants that do not have carbon storage.
7. Enact the federal level high efficiency standards for appliances.
8. Enact stringent building efficiency standards at the state and local levels, with federal incentives to adopt them.
9. Enact stringent efficiency standards for vehicles and make plug-in hybrids the standard U.S. government vehicle by 2015.
10. Put in place federal contracting procedures to reward early adopters of carbon dioxide reductions.
11. Adopt vigorous research, development and pilot plant construction programs for technologies that could accelerate the elimination of carbon dioxide.
12. Establish a standing committee on Energy and Climate under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board.

More details on the Clean Dozen can be found in Makhijani’s book titled, “Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy.” The book is available to download free at the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research’s website.

As municipalities critically evaluate the realities of new nuclear power plants, they are saying no to nuclear. The consulting firm of Worley Parsons recently reviewed NRG’s proposed expansion of the South Texas Project and advised the City of Austin against investing in two new nuclear reactors. Their report said that “the projected cost of the new units and their permitting and construction schedules are overly optimistic and include an unacceptable degree of uncertainty and risk for a commitment of this size.” After seeing the consultant’s report, Austin Energy’s general manager recommended that the city “not participate in the ownership of the proposed new nuclear generating units at the South Texas Project.”

TAKE ACTION
Learn about the alternatives to fossil fuel and nuclear power and, let your local, state and national representatives know you want the focus for energy placed on efficiency, conservation and clean, renewable energy - not nuclear power.