We all have a tendency to put a spin on things that agree with our personal point of view, also known as our belief system (BS). Let’s take a look at some verifiable information concerning nuclear power. All the following quotes were taken verbatim from the newsletter.
A monthly newsletter cited the safety and low cost of power generation from nuclear sources. The newsletter stated that nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers have “sailed a jillion miles without mishap.” Apparently the writer picked that information out of the sky because a small amount of research proves the statement erroneous. Maybe I’m assuming that “jillion” is somewhere beyond million, billion and trillion but the writer’s interpretation of jillion is a few hundred thousand.
Go to the library, or on the Internet, and search “atomic submarine aircraft carrier accidents.” See what you find. I found lots, not just for subs and carriers but links to other things, including pages on nuclear power plant accidents. Although there are a lot of assumptions, I couldn’t find any verifiable information on the percentage of cancer in those who’ve served on nuclear submarines or carriers, which leads me to believe it’s classified as a defense department secret. Draw your own conclusions.
The FDA states that anyone working around nuclear material should take potassium iodide to help stop the body from uptaking radiation, which causes thyroid cancer, the main killer in nuclear fallout. In some instances, taking potassium iodide is mandatory. In the late 1990’s, 1/3 of all nuclear power plants in Canada were shut down due to safety reasons.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NRC, sites the “peak fatality zone” for a nuclear accident at 17.5 miles and the “peak injury zone” at 50 miles. There were cancers worldwide with three to four million people affected, and a peak fatality zone of 200 miles in connection with the Chernobyl accident in Russia.
According to Worldwatch Institute the cost of nuclear power is much higher than the initial startup costs when deactivation, cleanup, long-term storage of spent fuel rods and other factors, are taken into consideration. I found the total costs to be: $3000 to $4000 per kilowatt for nuclear, $400 to $600 for gas fired-combined cycle plants and $1000 per kilowatt for wind generation.
After the first two paragraphs in the newsletter, we quickly regress. The writer takes shots at people who disagree and uses statements like “It’s the whole booga-booga thing that’s been going on since the development of the atomic bomb”, in an apparent effort at dehumanization and to take the readers’ mind off the lack of facts. Usually, this stratagem is used to instill the thought in a reader or listener’s mind, that when someone disagrees with their BS they have a problem and should be avoided. “Maybe they live on a hog farm.”
I had difficulty following the cost and safety issues while jumping from nuclear power, to horror movies, to how important it is to believe information from people in power, to atomic bomb drills in the writer’s school years, to people buying real estate and on to hog farms. Maybe the difficulty arose because there was an apparent effort to cover the lack of truth with “pig droppings.” Or, maybe the writer was trying to emulate one of those being ridiculed, “whose nationally syndicated radio program is widely admired in some scatological circles for it’s unerring ability to take humor to its lowest possible common denominator.” There also seemed to be an inference that if you disagreed with nuclear power you were somehow unpatriotic.
We all make assumptions, especially if they agree with our mindset, but when we lead people to believe we’re telling the truth, we need to do some real-life fact finding. Maybe people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw “pig droppings.”
Where health and safety are involved I do my homework. When power costs are a concern, I turn off some lights.
