Consortiumnews.com In Vermont the voters actually can impact the building of nuke plants. Note Entergy the company that wants to build a new one, lied and covered up the tritium leaks. They also covered up the excessive radiation readings at the perimeter of the property. That is what they do and have done for generations.
Well that’s a devastating link…or it would be if it hadn’t already been brought up earlier in this thread.
So, Gonzomax… If you’re so worried about the destructive effects of radiation, have you had your basement checked for radon levels? I hope you don’t live in a high altitude city, or ride the subways.
Here are some typical radiation exposure levels of every day things:
Radon in your basement: 160 millirems per year.
Living in Denver: 130 additional millirems per year from cosmic rays
Working in Grand Central Station: 120 millirems per year from the granite
CT scan: 300-2000 millirems
Chest X-ray: 10-20 millirems
Extra radiation received during 2 hour airline flight: 5 millirems
Average radiation dose per year from all sources: 360 millirems
And I really, really hope you’re a non-smoker. Because smoking can cause trace amounts of polonium and radon to collect in your lungs, giving you up to 700 millirems of additional radiation exposure per year per pack smoked each day.
And now…
Maximum radiation dose potentially received by anyone living near Three Mile Island during or after the accident: 100 millirems.
Health effects of any kind found after an extensive, 30 year study of the population around Three Mile Island: ZERO.
People are afraid of radiation because they don’t understand it. A single CT scan of the torso will hit you with about 20 times the radiation in a couple of minutes than anyone could possibly have received from the Three Mile Island reactor, even at the height of the emergency.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9E6L64O0.htm
I should point out, to be fair, that there were also exposure issues at Brookhaven National Labs. It’s not a power plant, but, well, it’s tangentally relevant.
Edit: Also, looks like Gonzo’s taking a little vacation. Let’s hope he cools off, because he is a fairly relevant member of the boards. (I don’t agree with him much, but he does bring up points.)
This is a perfect example of what part of the problem is. The antis try to conflate the weapons programs and power production.
The weapons programs started in the 40’s before the dangers from radiation were well understood. Also, the weapons programs were used to win WW2 and to fight the Cold War. Perhaps they weren’t as strictly regulated as they shouldve been because it was thought the dangers from the Soviets were worse.
In the 60’s and 70’s, American commercial nuclear power production was a young industry and some mistakes were made, culminating in TMI in 1979.
With a more mature industry, the chances of a serious accident are greatly reduced imo.