18 Jan 2008 Ten Myths About Nuclear Power

Rob Johnston, writing at Spiked, takes apart ten myths popularized by British environmentalists against nuclear power.

As many if not all of these myths are promoted here in the U.S., I thought I’d reprint them here, but you have to go to Spiked to see Johnson’s case for why they shouldn’t be believed.

1) Uranium is running out
2) Nuclear is not a low-carbon option
3) Nuclear power is expensive
4) Reactors produce too much waste
5) Decommissioning is too expensive
6) Building reactors takes too long
7) Leukemia rates are higher near reactors
8) Reactors lead to weapons proliferation
9) Wind and wave power are more sustainable
10) Reactors are a terrorist target

(Speaking of nuclear reactors being a terrorist target, the National Center for Public Policy Research published a study of eight different terrorist-attack-on-nuclear-power-plant scenarios in 2001 by nuclear physicists Gerald E. Marsh and George S. Stanford. The paper, “Terrorism and Nuclear Power: What are the Risks?” can be read online here.)