Study: Nuclear Reactors Are Toxic to Surrounding Areas, Especially With Age

[xchrom]

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/22324-study-nuclear-reactors-are-toxic-to-surrounding-areas-especially-as-plants-age


Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 and 2. (Photo: Nuclear Regulatory Commission / Flickr)

Is the baby tooth under your child's pillow radioactive? It could be if you live relatively close to a nuclear power plant that has been operating normally and in accordance with federal regulations, according to a new study.

The study, released last week by the Santa Barbara-based think tank World Business Academy for its Safe Energy Project, found that public health indicators such as infant mortality rates and cancer incidence in surrounding areas rose dramatically after Pacific Gas and Electric's (PG&E) two nuclear reactors at the Diablo Canyon power plant began operations in 1984 and 1985.

"This should be a concern for any nuclear reactor and its health risks, whether it's been operating for a day or 30 or 40 years because these reactors create over 100 cancer-causing chemicals; much of it is stored as waste at the plant, but a portion of it is released into the environment and gets into human bodies through the food chain," said Joseph Mangano, who authored the study. He is the executive director of the nonprofit Radiation and Public Health Project (RPHP).

The findings also document the presence of the radioactive isotope Strontium-90 in baby teeth, showing that the Strontium-90 levels in 50 baby teeth collected mostly from San Luis Obispo County, but also from Santa Barbara County, which is downwind from the Diablo Canyon plant, was 30.8 percent higher than the levels found in the 88 baby teeth from the rest of the state.

[hunter]

1. No, not this shit again...

:sigh:

There are incredibly good, solid reasons to oppose nuclear power.

These kinds of "studies" just make anti-nuclear activists look silly.

I remember digging through all the "statistics" surrounding Rancho Seco before it was closed. There was NO signal there. All these people living in a swamp of toxic agricultural and industrial chemicals, and activists wanted SO BADLY to blame all manners of harm entirely on the power plant.

It made no sense.

Fucking cars and trucks spew more carcinogens, mutagens, and other toxic shit than a nuclear power plant. I'd rather live in a field next to Diablo Canyon than a house anywhere near Highway 101.

Ultimately Rancho Seco was closed because it was the Chevy Vega of nuclear power plants, or dare I say it, the Space Shuttle.