Nuclear power,the Unseen danger to Nigeria

                           
That Nigeria is ready to build four nuclear power plants worth $80billion in Sheba Abuja, is somewhat of an over-ambition and most6 especially,a time bomb to Nigeria.
Of course, having a nuclear plant necessitates having a radioactive waste managing system. And for such a country whose antecedence in industrial and toxic waste management hasn’t earned it a doff of the hat, nor its solid waste management a howling success, considering housing four nuclear power plants which generate high-level waste, is not only funny, but hilarious.
 Each year, enormous quantities of radioactive waste are created during the nuclear fuel process, including 2,000 metric tons of high-level radioactive waste.
 How risky is nuclear power?Do we still remember the Fukushima nuclear crisis of Japan?
 For all its problems, nuclear power is the most reliable form of low carbon electricity. It remains the only viable source of low-carbon baseload power available to industrialized economies but the danger it posses is ernomous.

Here are 11 reasons why Nigerians shoul reject this destruction:

1. Nuclear reactors and the waste stored on the site are effectively pre-deployed nuclear weapons in the event that malicious people decide to blow one up. Building more reactors simply increases the number of targets, or if added to an existing site, makes that target bigger! Chernobyl is an example of a reactor being blown up; it was the largest single release of radioactivity to date, exceeding all nuclear weapons tests (combined).
2. Every nuclear power reactor makes massive amounts of radioactive waste. Nuclear power’s waste is deadly, causes cancer and genetic mutations, and there is no known way to permanently contain, dispose or neutralize it. All claims to the contrary are unfounded.
3. The explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power station was the worst industrial accident of any kind in history. Tens of thousands of people have died, and more will over time. The estimated cost of the consequences of that accident to date is over 350 Billion dollars, and both the monetary costs and human deaths will increase over time as Chernobyl has caused permanent contamination of food and water and children.
4. Every radiation exposure increases our risk of cancer. Nuclear energy requires that many communities be exposed as uranium is processed to fuel and fuel is used to produce waste. Many workers are contaminated and sometimes their families are exposed.
5. Uranium mining is overwhelmingly done on the land left to Indigenous People (Native Americans, Aboriginal People, Traditional African and European communities). These communities are disproportionately affected with sickness and genetic impacts.
6. Nuclear waste sites consistently target the same Indigenous and Traditional Communities. In the US there are two sites planned for high-level nuclear waste from commercial nuclear power: Yucca Mountain in Nevada on Western Shoshone land and the Skull Valley Goshute Indian Reservation in Utah. This is the worst form of genocidal targeting that an industry and the Government could do.
7. Nuclear power is the most expensive energy source that has ever been implemented at the industrial scale, and the full true costs have never been considered. Nuclear waste will be hazardous for hundreds of thousands of years, yet only immediate costs are considered.
8. Living with nuclear waste is a challenge; it constantly emits penetrating radiation, and when not contained, migrates easily in our environment. Moving it is a high-risk activity, and the US government and nuclear industry seem committed to maximizing nuclear waste transport risks by locating waste management sites far from point of generation.
9. Nuclear Power reactors release radioactivity to the air and the water on an ongoing basis, even with no accident. These routine and intermittent releases of radioactivity are like a dirty secret, since they are quietly allowed by the federal regulator. It would not be possible to run the reactor without them. Such releases contribute to radiation exposures in communities both near and far from the site. Radiation standards are being consistently relaxed to allow older, leakier reactors to continue to operate.
10. Coastal reactors have been shown to kill sea mammals and threaten the endangered sea turtle. The reactor requires massive volumes of cooling water, and those with a “once through” cooling system are the worst. About ½ of the 103 nuclear reactors currently operated in the US use a “once through” system, and could be upgraded.
11. In order to live with the immense danger imposed by both a nuclear reactor and its waste, the federal government requires such a high level of control that local communities effectively loose their voice in decision-making and leadership. Most members of the US Congress receive a large amount of funding from the nuclear power industry and also help pass laws that promote nuclear interests. We loose our democracy when we give our power to the power companies. This situation is even worse in an era of security woes.

Culled from the Internet