U.S. scientist warns of risks of pursuing nuclear power
U.S. scientist warns of risks of pursuing nuclear power
2016/09/24 13:48:16
Taipei, Sept. 24 (CNA) A visiting U.S. scientist and energy expert on Saturday warned about the risks of pursuing nuclear power, saying human beings lack experience handling and storing high-level waste for very long periods of time.
Ashok Gadgil, a professor from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, made the remarks at a press conference held by the Tang Prize Foundation in Taipei, when asked about his take on nuclear power and about the plan by Taiwan's government to phase out nuclear power by 2025.
From the perspective of climate change alone, some scientists consider it to be "the most serious single risk faced by modern civilization" and believe that fossil-fuel power plants should be replaced by renewable or nuclear power plants, said Gadgil, who is visiting Taiwan to receive the Tang Prize in sustainable development on behalf of American energy expert Arthur H. Rosenfeld.
"The other side of the coin, which is also valid, is that nuclear power requires inevitably taking care of high-level waste," Gadgil said. "And we have no experience as a civilization in maintaining something so dangerous for so long in isolation."
In particular, Gadgil said....
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