Remove the fear of nuclear energy
Edwin
8 March 2010
Jose Ceralde,
Pray tell what the Christmas bomber has to do with a nuclear reactor. There was information that was not followed that allowed the bomber to board the plane. The Dutchman who subdued him was not a graduate of “Big Brotherism.” Political correctness was the most likely reason the bomber got aboard. Also, mental evaluation of the passengers was not a factor that the fourth 911 plane did not reach its intended target.
Yes, there are many Filipinos in strategic positions in the navy. Most were lucky to have been able enlist while there was a Sangley Point. This is no longer the case. What can be done is the training of nuclear technicians in countries that use nuclear plants, e.g. Japan, Korea, the U.S. and countries in Europe. The danger in using nuclear energy is at the most very minimal.
Here are some facts about nuclear energy, which I have been able to peruse:
How much “nuclear waste” (spent nuclear fuel rods) is used for a (U.S.) family of four for twenty years? What is “Depleted Uranium?”
The nuclear power for a family of four for twenty years generates no more than a shoe box of spent fuel rods that critics call “nuclear waste” Hysterics used by anti nuclear activists has not allowed the U.S. to reprocess the rods to extract the highly radioactive isotopes and reclaim the plutonium that can be used as new fuel. If allowed to reprocess, the spent fuel rods, the remaining “waste” that must be buried for a family of four for fifty years will fit in a pill bottle or a shot glass. The amount of waste is minimal. The total nuclear waste generated by all 103 nuclear plants in the U.S. over the last fifty years will fit in the volume of a typical high school gym (77,000 tons by weight so far). task? There is virtually no danger once the waste stored a thousand feet inside of a mountain. New technology is being developed to further reduce this waste.
“Depleted Uranium” is nothing more than normal uranium from the ground that has been processed to remove most of the fissionable isotope U235. Hence, depleted uranium is almost pure U238. It is less radioactive than normal uranium found everywhere in the crust of the earth. People eat about a microgram of natural uranium each day because it is in almost all food. A pound of uranium carried in your coat pocket is no more dangerous than a pound of iron. Only the U235 component of natural uranium can make bombs. U235 is about 0.7% of natural uranium. The rest is U238.
Being heavier than most metal uranium has been used for many things other than nuclear energy.
What is needed is to remove the fear of nuclear energy. It is safe! The Philippines needs the nuclear technology to survive in the twenty-first century.
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