Nuclear energy is safe and reliable

Despite the countless scare stories about accidents at nuclear reactors, nuclear energy is the safest way to generate electricity, experts say. And it is to be made even safer by a new type of reactor to be built in South Africa. But expansion of nuclear power has been stalled in the United States because of media-fed perceptions that nuclear power is unsafe.

Among the points nuclear energy advocates make in support of its safety:

Radiation from American nuclear plants has not harmed anyone, and the chances of a nuclear reactor meltdown are miniscule.

Per kilowatt of energy produced, more people are killed by fossil fuels.

An incident like that at Chernobyl is most unlikely, as the Chernobyl design was rejected as unsafe in the U.S. 50 years ago.

A new type of reactor called a pebble bed reactor, one of which will be built in South Africa, is even safer, say experts, due to its design.

Source: The Energy Advocate: A Monthly Newsletter Promoting Energy and Technology, May 2002 (Vol. 6, No. 10).

For more on Energy Advocate http://www.energyadvocate.com/
For more on Nuclear Energy http://www.ncpa.org/iss/ene/

FMF Policy Bulletin\16 July 2002