[LETTERS TO THE EDITOR]Nuclear power’s risks are real
Published: 12 Dec. 2003, 00:58
We all know from recent events that oil is not the most abundant resource in the world and some countries will come and lay waste to your country within months of laying waste to a neighboring country to get your oil. The problem with nuclear power is something one cannot overlook though. Why? Let’s say, hypothetically, a city has a big back yard. The government has been running the nuclear plants for a good time now, but they have a lot of waste to bury and walk away from, never to be mentioned again. The only problem is, “what goes around comes around.” The containers hold the waste only for 50 years and suddenly the local town’s cancer rate triples.
Babies are born with five eyes and six legs. The locals are baffled. Until the old man starts recalling “funny men in black that came and buried something mighty strange out there in the fields.” This is what is happening now.
What we can do is “diversification.” We can install “light water” plants that do not, magically, produce any waste. Any waste that is produced is much less volatile than the waste that oozes out and ends up in North Korean warheads. Should we be risking our lives, our very health, for the government’s lethal leftovers? Can we trust a group such as the recent one in Buan that is supposedly pushing for the people of Buan to risk their lives so they can watch their televisions and keep the computer on a little longer? I don’t think so.
by David Oh
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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