FREE ESSAY ON NUCLEAR WARFARE

NUCLEAR WARFARE

Nuclear Power Problems
The effects caused by a nuclear power accident, on the scale of the April 26, 1986
Chernobyl
accident, must override any inclination to side with advocates for nuclear power. Surely
we have all heard
the expression "I'm only human". If we are indeed only human, and consequently prone to
error, we could
never perfectly manage and contain an energy as potentially destructive as that of
nuclear power, without the
possibility of a nuclear accident. Furthermore, the wastes generated by nuclear power,
when inadvertently
released during a nuclear power accident, have been proven to cause malignant diseases
and premature
death to those who come into contact with them. Additionally, the vegetation threat we
rely on for survival is
severely affected when radioactive elements are released into the air and water supply
during a nuclear
accident. Most alarming, however, is the fact that the general public is vastly unaware
of its governments'
use of nuclear waste in the development of nuclear weapon. Most of us can remember the
bombing of Iwo
Jima and the effects the bomb had on the lives of the millions of Japanese that lived
within a twenty mile
radius of the city. We can see what happened to the second generation: children born with
severe
informities such as sixteen fingers and three arms; children born with cancer; and
children with mental and
physical handicaps. The radiation of a bomb doesn't always cause instant death, but it is
a lingering
experience. Japanese people, thought to be healthy, got cancer in later life, and had
dis-formed children. 
Consequently, we must not be swayed by advocates urging us to further develop and expand
nuclear power. 
We must, instead, examine the larger picture; the risks associated with this potentially
devastating power.
The potential for human error causing a nuclear accident can be ascertained by
considering the
causes and effects of accidents that have already occurred.
In 1952, at Chalk River's Nuclear Reactor, four control pads were unintentionally
removed, causing a
partial meltdown of the reactor's core.
In 1957, a fire at the Windscale Pile No. 1 plant, just north of Liverpool, England,
resulted in the
contamination of 200 square miles of countryside when it was covered with radiation.
In 1976, the core of the Lubmin nuclear plant in Greifswald, East Germany nearly melted
down when
safety systems failed during a fire.
In 1979, the ever so famous, Three Mile Island reactor in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania lost
coolant in one of
its two reactors and a partial meltdown occurred on March 28, 1979. "Large amounts of
radioactive
noble gases were released to the containment atmosphere. Some of these were released into
the
environment" (The Three). The resulting contamination led to a very expensive ten-year
clean up plan. 
"The first re-entry of the building took place in July of 1980" (TIP 10).
Still, nothing compares to the tragic accident at the Soviet's Chernobyl power plant in
1986. "The
accident which immediately killed three hundred and twenty one persons, caused about
130,000 cases
of irradiation and led to the displacement of hundred of individuals" (Fragelada). The
post Chernobyl
brain syndrome arose because of the high amounts of radiation. "In the city of Gomel,
Belarus, near the
Chernobyl power plant, a survey revealed that out of fifteen hundreds of children, only
twenty-four were
in good health" (Chernobyl). The Belarus children keep eating the contaminated food. "The
Chernobyl
plant did not have the massive containment structure common to most nuclear power plants
elsewhere in
the world" (The Chernobyl Accident).
The costs associated with nuclear power are of paramount concern. When compared to coal,
gas,
and oil in 1997, only coal was cheaper than nuclear power. It would appear to the general
public, that nuclear
power is a bargain deal. Few people, however, take into account the fact that
bargain-deals often cost the
consumer more in their long-term values. The costs resulting from nuclear accidents are
seldom taken
fully into account. First of all, the scientists, researchers, technicians, and workers
who must assess the
accidents and initiate clean-up operations, must be compensated. Instruments, tools, and
machinery must be
bought and transported to the accident site to enable the clean-up. Storage containers
for the radioactive
waste must be constructed. Doctors and hospitals must be made available for the diagnosis
and treatment of
the victims. Even those who sustained lower doses of radiation must be monitored.
Pregnant women must
be monitored for both their incidence of spontaneous abortion [mis-carriage] as well as
congenial defects in
their offspring. Children must be monitored for possible future thyroid tumors as a
result of the high radiation
doses that they have sustained. Future generations must be studied to ascertain whether
their incidence to
cancers, diseases, or birth defects can directly attribute to a prior generation nuclear
accident. The costs of
nuclear power are, hence, quiet substantial. Most people don't realize this, but
terrorists train near Three Mile
Island. "In late 1992 to 1993, training was conducted at a camp near Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania for operations
and assassinations in the United States and Overseas" (Siddig Ibrahim Siddig Ali). The
FBI had been aware
of the training going on, at least a month before the terrorists bombed the World Trade
Center on February
26, 1993.
"One of the main problems concerning nuclear power could be the secret kept around it.
Nuclear
companies are very isolated" (Fragelada). Another reason to stand against nuclear power
is that,
unbeknownst to the general public, its wastes are used in the development of nuclear
weapons. Although a
county initiating the use of nuclear power may develop high-level waste storage methods,
they are not
generally designed to prevent encroachment. Nuclear waste becomes more tempting to
potential bomb
makers as time allows the waste to decay into a cleaner plutonium which could be used in
nuclear weapons. 
Another problem is, what do you do with the wastes? "The problem of the wastes is a
catastrophe in all the
producer countries. Nobody knows what to do with it. They are buried, either in the
countryside or in foreign
countries" (Fragelada).
Politicians and media personnel often oversimplify nuclear power by showing only its'
beneficial
aspects. Llewellyn King asserts that because the word thought that it was running out of
oil and natural gas
in the 1970's, the logical explanation was to expand nuclear power production. Because
coal and gas emit
large amounts of pollutants into the atmosphere, Llewellyn asserted that nuclear power
could clean up the
atmosphere, thus stopping global warming. Although, the concerns of the writer are
credible, further
education of the devastating effects of nuclear power accidents would probably yield a
change of heart.
We must not be swayed by the opinions of those associated with, or those who have
connections
with the press. Nuclear power poses a life- threatening risk to the public and the future
of our world. We
must do all we can to persuade, convince, and educate the general public. The horrible
effects of nuclear
accidents will eventually cause death and destruction to all life as we know it. Stand
firmly opposed to
nuclear energy and save our planet form eventual destruction.
Bibliography
Works Cited
Chernobyl: Health Impact - Chapter V. Accessed on July 20, 2000. 
Nuclear Waste Problems. Accessed on July 19, 2000. 
Growth impairment and mental retardation among children exposed to
atomic-bomb radiation before birth. Accessed on June 20, 2000.
TIP 10: Status of Three Mile Island Unit 2. Accessed on July 20, 2000. 
http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/gmo/tip/tip10.htm>
Lemonick, Michael D. Paying for Disaster. Time Magazine; May 17, 1993. 
Accessed on July 22, 2000. 
http://www.time.com/time/daily/chernobyl/930517.books.html>
Perlman, Fredy. Progress & Nuclear Power: The Destruction of the
Continent and Its Peoples. Accessed on July 22, 2000.
The Chernobyl Accidents and Its Consequences. Accessed on July 20, 2000.
Fragelada, Hiram. Chernobyl Project. Accessed on July 20, 2000.
Ali, Siddig Ibrahim Siddig. Another Nuclear Threat. Accessed July 21, 2000.