Rachel Maddow has a nuclear expert on right now.

[Tx4obama]

Turn on your TV or watch online

http://www.justin.tv/rockinroosters17#/w/951240848/18

[malaise]

1. This is some scary shit

Damn!

[aquart]

2. I so don't like it when the expert is upset.

[Tx4obama]

3. Pour a glass of wine, light up a cigarette, and relax :) n/t

[janet118]

8. I live right down the road from one of the oldest nuke plants in the US .

It is over 30 years old and every spent fuel rod that has ever been used there is still on site. It is guarded by Wackenhut and owned by Entergy and sits right on the Atlantic Ocean. We, in the 3 nearest towns, have been given evacuation plans which make no logical sense. In the 80s, we successfully fought to stop the building of a second plant on the same site, but they still keep this dinosaur running without updating the plant or the disposal methods.

Today, I was listening to an NPR report on what is happening to the nuke plants in Japan and the anchor asked why a country so prone to earthquakes would rely so heavily on nuclear power. The reporter said that powerful energy corporations in Japan have influenced the government to push oil, coal and nuclear while squelching solar photovoltaic, wind and other clean energy sources. They do this because they are alternative energy is small, decentralized and can't be so easily controlled by large companies.

I'm hoping that this disaster will stop the ridiculous claims that nuclear power is "safe" - it is safe until it's not and then the disaster is epic. It is also really dirty - spent fuel remains radioactive for over a million years. After Chernobyl and 3-Mile-Island, there was a surge of anti-nuke activity. That is gone now. More and more "environmentalists" are touting nuclear power as a clean energy option. IMHO it is not a viable option.

[Tx4obama]

4. Rachel said she'll have another nuclear update later in the show. n/t

[Ilsa]

5. We have a nuclear power plant about 100 miles away.

I've never had reason to worry about it. But we don't have earthquakes in any noticeable way down here.

European countries haven't had any problems, have they? And don't they recycle their nuclear waste better than American nuclear plants?

[Cleita]

7. I have a nuclear plant fifteen miles away and we

do have earthquakes. This plant is built to withstand an earthquake of 7.5 magnitude. No way can it handle the 8+ magnitude earthquakes that seems to be popping up all over the world. I think European countries have had problems. Isn't Chernobyl in Europe and didn't it create a radiation cloud over a lot of Europe? I think nuke plants are a mistake. The risk is too great especially when events happen that are previously unknown and that even the best preparedness couldn't foresee.

[Ilsa]

10. Chernobyl is in the Ukraine, former USSR. And my understanding is that

Chernobyl didn't have the containment system that these plants have.

[Oceansaway]

6. theres one 40 miles from here....

Cordova, il.

scary crap eh.....

[Tx4obama]

9. there's one 75-80 miles away from my Houston house. And....

my aunt has one not far from her house in Illinois.

Anyone know how many nuclear plants there are in the USA?

Edited to add:

ANSWER: 104. As of 2008, Nuclear power in the United States is provided by 104 (69 pressurized water reactors and 35 boiling water reactors) commercial nuclear power plants licensed to operate, producing a total of 806.2 TWh of electricity, which was 19.6% of the nation's total electric energy consumption in 2008.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_the_United_States