Atop the Stoa tonight, I watch a documentary (yes, my Stoa has a satellite dish) and shake my head at the sensationalism, baiting, and pandering oozing out of my flatscreen.
First off, the writing for this documentary had to have been written by an 8th grader trying to write at a 6th grade level, while actually achieving a 4th grade level of sophistication. Repetitive variations of the words horror, nightmare, and crisis, were rampant. The interviewer and narrator, Paula Zahn, was grinning throughout the episode; her eyes bright and mirthful. How is this possible? Were you giggling during the 9/11 attack?
I felt like Rocky in the 8th round of a match, just taking hit after hit from my screen, bludgeoned with the evils of nuclear power, the idiocy of the governments in the world that build them. The tens of millions of people at risk to similar contamination because of where our plants are situated. On and on it went.
I have worked with radiation for 20 years and understand nuclear power far better than most of the activists out there screaming for its abandonment. Nuclear power is the safest, cleanest way of generating electricity that humanity currently possesses. Unless a reactor breeches or storage facilities are breeched, the plants are quite safe. I will not go into all the details in this post, however any who requests more detail can simply ask me and I will provide it.
All fossil fuels leave a greenhouse footprint and hydroelectric dams and plants disrupt native aquatic life. Very bad. Even green technology kills of the native wildlife. There are hundreds of square miles of solar panels that choke native plants and grasses of needed sunlight. The panels disrupt the animals that live in the desert and only operate when the sun is out. Wind turbines kill more birds than hunters around the world by a large factor, plus they drive humans insane with their subsonic sounds. They also only work when there is wind. Oh, and they can be an eye sore, just ask the Kennedy Family.
Nuclear power is the only way to generate power without affecting the native wildlife, as long as proper care is taken with their construction and maintenance.
If you think that you can ban all power generation that harms the environment, in any way, then you will be sitting cold and damp in the grass, unable to light a match to warm or light your way. It is just that simple.
Please, oh please, Paula, stop smiling while you discuss radiation burns and Iodine poisoning. It just does not seem appropriate.
With irritation subsiding, I will depart the Stoa for home. Scientific detachment and medical professionalism is the only way to discuss a situation as serious (not horrible, horrifying or nightmarish).
Live well.
--Zavost
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