To former governors: Think smarter and cleaner than nuclear

Comment: for some reasons some local leaders of different states(like VA) believe Nuke Power is great but most people under Nuke Power is not Green but of the CO2 produce from Uranium mining, milling and building $10-18 Billion Nuke plants paid for the taxpayers!

April 23, 2009

To former governors: Think smarter and cleaner than nuclear

In response to the April 21 column by former governors John Engler, James Blanchard and William Milliken ("Switch to nuclear power"): Nuclear power is neither clean, green nor cost effective.

Those who promote nuclear energy typically do not inform the public of the excessive cost: The average two-reactor nuclear power plant is estimated to cost $10 billion to $18 billion to build. That's before cost overruns, and no U.S. nuclear power plant has ever been delivered on time or on budget.

Partially used uranium is stored at old power plants in pools of water called "spent fuel pools." Lying near cities, on crucial river systems, in small rural towns, these pools are potentially a far greater risk than a reactor meltdown.

Asia's, Russia's and France's nuclear power plants are closely linked to nuclear weapons programs.

There will be no nuclear renaissance. Talk of such a renaissance helps keep people distracted, their minds off the real project of developing wind, solar, geothermal and tidal kinetics to build a green power grid.

Nancy Adadow Gray, Farmington Hills

Team up for alternatives

Three past Michigan governors could have done better than to use the fear-mongering of "hostile ... sources," "job losses" and the specious "clean energy" to argue for nuclear power. Or could they? From mining to the disposal of uranium, serious concerns remain.

Michigan is populated by many intelligent and well-meaning citizens who can come up with a valid course of action in a timely fashion. Let's have a wide-ranging debate, in a setting of calm and composure, with all the scientific and economic data on the table.

Matthew Evans

Southfield

Nuclear isn't so clean

It looks as if the three ex-governors signed on to the CASE (Clean and Safe Energy Coalition) fact sheet. This multimillion-dollar PR campaign is designed to sell nuclear energy at great expense to taxpayers and ratepayers because nuclear cannot compete without huge government subsidies. Our energy demand is not surging, but in steep decline. A package of bills recently passed by the Michigan Legislature calls for further energy efficiencies that will reduce demand.

While the operation of nuclear reactors is mostly carbon-free compared to coal, the process of mining, milling, enrichment and construction causes significant carbon emissions.

Will the swing to electric plug-in vehicles increase electrical demand? Not according the Energy Information Agency of the Department of Energy, which says 1 million plug-ins will increase demand by only 0.01%.

As for jobs, studies indicate there will be more jobs available in wind, solar and efficiency than in the nuclear industry.

Ed McArdle

Southeast Michigan Sierra Club

Melvindale

http://www.freep.com/article/20090423/OPINION04/904230385/1072/opinion04/Think+smarter+and+cleaner+than+nuclear