Its common knowledge that coal is America’s leading fuel source for electrical power generation, and it is also responsible for more than one-third of the nation’s carbon-dioxide emissions- pollution that causes global warming!
The problem is, “more nuclear plants in the U.S will not alleviate the global-warming problem so long as other countries roll out new coal-fired power plants. By some estimates China commissions a new coal-fired power station every 10 days even as it moves forward on ambitious plans to open new nuclear plants.”- Matthew Auer (The Desert Sun)
According to The Australian, Madonna now thinks she holds the answer to the nuclear waste problem. She and her husband, both avid Kabbalah followers, have been lobbying the British Government and nuclear industry “over a magic cleaning solution.”
One official was quoted saying that their approach was “like a crank call” and that there were no scientific basis for their claims.
It is understood that the couple, who live in London and Wiltshire, were promoting a water-based solution that had allegedly proved successful in neutralising dangerous nuclear waste in Russia. Apparently water is a uniquely important substance that can be given magic healing powers through “meditations and the consciousness of sharing,” according to Kabbalah followers.
If you ask me, I think Madonna should stick to making platinum records and Ritchie should stick to directing mediocre movies.
Fortunately, the Bush administration strongly supports nuclear power as a way to solve te U.S. energy crisis. But in its new plan for nuclear waste management, an MIT professor who studies the nuclear energy industry, says the administration is taking the wrong approach. Richard Lester, professor of nuclear engineering and director of the Industrial Performance Center, argues that the Bush adminstration’s plan, known as GNEP (Global Nuclear Energy Partnership), is not the best way to encourage further development of nuclear energy.
GNEP calls for the development of new technology to reprocess spent fuel in order to recover usable plutonium and uranium and eliminate other long-lived radioactive elements. But, according to Lester, the government’s efforts would be better focused on other solutions, such as establishing a small number of regional facilities, where nuclear plants could send their spent fuel to be stored safely for several decades. Afterall, Yucca Mountain is not scheduled to open until 2017, and its to hold all of the nation’s radioactive waste. If the project fails, an alternative solution will be needed. And even if it succeeds, spent fuel will remain at nuclear power plants for decades before it can be removed.
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Scientists have discovered that common bacteria can clean uranium waste and convert it into a much less dangerous substance. check this article out by clicking here!
July 31- Preliminary results of an environmental study of tritium at 11 Exelon Nuclear stations show no active leaks of tritium at any of the generating plants and no detectable tritium beyond the plant boundaries other than from permitted discharges, except for known historical releases at the Braidwood Generating Station in Illinois.
None of the tritium concentrations registered in the Exelon Nuclear assessment pose a health or safety hazard to workers or the public.
The assessment also determined that:
– No radioactive substances other than tritium and those that occur naturally - such as potassium-40 - were detected above background levels in any of the more than 1,800 ground water samples taken to assess tritium at the stations.
– Low but detectable levels of tritium exist in groundwater within site boundaries of most Exelon plants. All either measured near background levels or were from past leaks or spills and show no signs of moving offiste. These will be monitored continuously. None pose a hazard.
– One plant, the Oyster Creek Generating Station in New Jersey, showed no traces of tritium in the environment.