FYI. See what they printed!
Letter: More thoughts on nuclear plants (Monadnock Ledger-Transcript) Peterborough, NH
By: Howard Shaffer
By: Howard Shaffer
To the editor:
Recently,
a writer seeking support for the New England Coalition (formerly the
New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution) commented on nuclear plant
decommissioning. The Coalition’s beliefs were expressed in the comments.
Their underlying belief is that “Any amount of radiation is dangerous.”
This can’t be reconciled with the belief of the scientific community,
the government, or the facts. That belief is: “Radiation is a powerful
natural force, and all around us and in us. Used with care great
benefits can be obtained. Carelessly or by intention, great harm can be
done.” Science believes as Marie Curie, discoverer of radium in the 19th
century said, “Everything is to be understood, nothing is to be
feared.” Millions are killed every day intentionally – that is millions
of cancer cells are killed by radiation treatment.
Radioactive
elements, such as the granite in Mount Monadnock, give off
radioactivity in the form of waves and particles. In the process the
elements are changed to something else. Bottom line is that the
radiation decreases with time and the end result is elements that aren’t
radioactive. This process was named “decay.” The process is measured by
“half-life.” In one half-life, half of a batch of an element has
changed. In another half-life, half of the half has changed. In a third
half-life, half of the half of the half has changed, and so on.
In
an operating nuclear reactor radioactive atom splitting parts are
continuously produced, and the more there are, the faster they decay,
until a steady high level exists. On shutdown the parts continue
decaying, so the amount and the potential hazard decreases continuously.
This also applies to any radioactivity in, for example, the building
concrete, whether it came from the plant processes, or is the natural
radioactivity in the material dug up to make the concrete. The low
hazard is clearly seen when the numbers are done. The Coalition never
presents numbers. They are running a scare campaign, in my judgment.
Comparing
the used fuel stored at Vermont Yankee to the waste at the WWII nuclear
weapons material manufacturing site at Hanford, Washington is
ludicrous. Huge quantities of waste were produced, and at the time, the
best decisions possible for temporary storage were made. The Vermont
Yankee used fuel is double packaged, above ground, in solid ceramic
form, and monitored continuously. Material may be radioactive for
millions of years, and measureable, but it takes a large quantity to
make it a hazard. The uranium in the Mount Monadnock granite is
radioactive and can be measured, but there is not enough of it to be a
hazard.
Howard Shaffer
Enfield, NH
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