I recently wrote about the more than twelve billion dollars of loan guarantees that the U.S. government is handing out to the nuclear industry for the construction of more reactors. Part of the reason for these guarantees is that investors are very skeptical about nuclear power and some of these projects might not be able to finance themselves without the involvement of the government.
I have written many posts about the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Washington. It is one of the most radioactively polluted areas in the world. After decades of plutonium production for the U.S. nuclear arsenal, a great deal of cleanup still remains to be done. The U.S.
The proponents of nuclear power like to say that a properly functioning nuclear power plant is no threat to public health. Dangerous radiation from materials in a nuclear reactor is invisible. Part of the problem with verifying the safety of a reactor is that fact the biological damage from radiation can take decades to reveal itself in the form of cancer.
Following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in March of 2011, Germany decided to shut down all of its nuclear reactors as quickly as possible. Over three years later, Japan is still debating the restart of their idled fifty four nuclear power reactors. Other nations are reconsidering their commitment to nuclear power as well. Now Sweden is involved in a discussion about the future of their nuclear power plants.
