Alternative Energy: excerpt from The Dynamic Great Lakes

I agree with the concept of alternative energy such as solar and wind power.  I do not agree with going forward with more nuclear power plants.  Here is an excerpt from my book, The Dynamic Great Lakes.

There are 37 nuclear power plants in the Great Lakes basin.


Plutonium, the most toxic substance known, is a by-product of

nuclear power plants. It is extremely hazardous because of its high

radioactivity: for half of its quantity to decay, it takes 24,360 years.

Our aging Nuclear Power Plants on the Great Lakes presently have

nowhere to store plutonium except on their property.

On the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant property on the shore of

Lake Michigan near South Haven, eight 100 ton casks stand on a

concrete slab only 150 feet from the waters of Lake Michigan.

The 16½ foot high casks are eleven feet in diameter and weigh

100 tons. They consist of a steel basket encased in 29 inches of

concrete and stand on a concrete slab. Palisades may eventually have

25 casks. Plutonium is so toxic that it could mean an end to life as

we know it in the Great Lakes region. Low-level radionuclides like

tritium escape into the ecosystem from these plants and like other

toxins, radioactivity magnifies through food chains. The nuclear

power plants are aging and must be phased out. Their radioactive

wastes pose an urgent problem that will have to be solved soon. No

one has solved the problem of how to store plutonium safely.

Uranium mining on the Canadian shore of the Lake Huron Basin

also poses hazardous waste problems.

The other nuclear power plants on the shores of the Great Lakes

also lack a sensible solution. Nuclear waste should be stored in a

permanent place where there is little or no chance of reaching water.

Former Attorney General of Michigan, Frank Kelly, stated the

storage of nuclear waste “the greatest threat to the Great Lakes in the

history of mankind.”

The Great Lakes’ value can’t be measured in dollars and cents

only, for who can measure the loss of health or put a price on the

beauty of a place?


 

New Year's Resolution to Save the Great Lakes

On planet Earth the Great Lakes are freshwater treasures.  Let's make a New Year's resolution to do all in our power to save them from exploitation, pollution, invasive species and more nuclear power plants on their shores. 

Nuclear power plants may look like a solution to global warming, but no one has solved the problem of how to dispose of their hightly toxic wastes.

Plutonium and the Great Lakes

Some people believe that building more nuclear power plants will give us clean, cheap energy. Not true.
Plutonium, the byproduct of generating electricity with nuclear power, is being stored near water on the shores of the Great Lakes and its tributaries. Just a tiny amount of plutonium can kill living things and life as we know it. Plutonium does not break down for thousands of years. If plutonium should get into the Great Lakes water system, the greatest freshwater system could be destroyed overnight. Do we want to take chances like this when no one has solved the problem of where and how to handle this deadly product?

We should phase out the aging nuclear power plants we now have and work on safer solutions to our energy problems. We should turn off the lights and walk more. We should unplug things that use power even when turned off. There are lots of ways to save energy.

Read more about this in The Dynamic Great Lakes