Skip to main content

Earth Day Canada Kicks Up The FUD on Nuclear Energy

Earth Day Canada has just started a new blog called Eco Kids. Earlier today, they decided that their topic of the day would be nuclear power:
There are several pros and cons of nuclear power. One pro is: it does not directly produce pollution. Cons of nuclear power are: it produces nuclear waste that is dangerous to humans and ecosystems; nuclear waste takes millions of years to decompose; and, it takes a lot of energy to mine the uranium used to create nuclear power. Thousands of gallons of petroleum are used in the mining process, releasing a lot of greenhouse gases.
My, what a balanced presentation! I count at least three half-truths and one outright error. How about you?

I left a comment directing their readers to NEI's Science Club, our own Web property geared toward school age children, but my comment has yet to be moderated. I wonder if it ever will.

As always, if you stop by to leave a comment, please be polite.

Technorati tags: , , , , , , ,

Comments

Anonymous said…
Your admirably low-key comment is now visible. Nice contrast to the sudden outbreak of hysteria in middle of their main article.
Lisa Stiles said…
The comment I left wasn't nearly as low-key but it was not impolite. I pointed out some of the misleading statements and questioned whether this was the best approach to encourage critical thinking in children. It's been nearly 24 hours and my comment has not appeared. Has anyone else tried?
Anonymous said…
LEAVE it to NEI to attempt lying to little children....Sure my comments will be removed from that sight, but perhaps the teacher will have enough sense to look into the true ills associated with nuclear power. Perhaps the teacher will realize NEI is the propaganda and lobbying arm of the nuclear industry.
Lisa Stiles said…
Wow. Did you even look at the NEI science club site for kids? There isn't anything on there that isn't scientific or demonstrated fact. It isn't trying to tell kids that nuclear is the answer to every problem. Issues that are certainly debatable among reasonable adults, issues that we debate here on the blog and elsewhere, aren't found on the site for children. Sure NEI has a few lobbyists but its mission is much broader and as a nuclear engineer I'm proud to be a part of the organization because I believe nuclear is an important part of our energy mix. And obviously we don't try to squelch discussion on the issues or your comment and many others would be removed. So I fail to see how this falls into the realm of "lies and propaganda."

Popular posts from this blog

Fluor Invests in NuScale

You know, it’s kind of sad that no one is willing to invest in nuclear energy anymore. Wait, what? NuScale Power celebrated the news of its company-saving $30 million investment from Fluor Corp. Thursday morning with a press conference in Washington, D.C. Fluor is a design, engineering and construction company involved with some 20 plants in the 70s and 80s, but it has not held interest in a nuclear energy company until now. Fluor, which has deep roots in the nuclear industry, is betting big on small-scale nuclear energy with its NuScale investment. "It's become a serious contender in the last decade or so," John Hopkins, [Fluor’s group president in charge of new ventures], said. And that brings us to NuScale, which had run into some dark days – maybe not as dark as, say, Solyndra, but dire enough : Earlier this year, the Securities Exchange Commission filed an action against NuScale's lead investor, The Michael Kenwood Group. The firm "misap

An Ohio School Board Is Working to Save Nuclear Plants

Ohio faces a decision soon about its two nuclear reactors, Davis-Besse and Perry, and on Wednesday, neighbors of one of those plants issued a cry for help. The reactors’ problem is that the price of electricity they sell on the high-voltage grid is depressed, mostly because of a surplus of natural gas. And the reactors do not get any revenue for the other benefits they provide. Some of those benefits are regional – emissions-free electricity, reliability with months of fuel on-site, and diversity in case of problems or price spikes with gas or coal, state and federal payroll taxes, and national economic stimulus as the plants buy fuel, supplies and services. Some of the benefits are highly localized, including employment and property taxes. One locality is already feeling the pinch: Oak Harbor on Lake Erie, home to Davis-Besse. The town has a middle school in a building that is 106 years old, and an elementary school from the 1950s, and on May 2 was scheduled to have a referendu

Wednesday Update

From NEI’s Japan micro-site: NRC, Industry Concur on Many Post-Fukushima Actions Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues • There is a “great deal of alignment” between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the industry on initial steps to take at America’s nuclear energy facilities in response to the nuclear accident in Japan, Charles Pardee, the chief operating officer of Exelon Generation Co., said at an agency briefing today. The briefing gave stakeholders an opportunity to discuss staff recommendations for near-term actions the agency may take at U.S. facilities. PowerPoint slides from the meeting are on the NRC website. • The International Atomic Energy Agency board has approved a plan that calls for inspectors to evaluate reactor safety at nuclear energy facilities every three years. Governments may opt out of having their country’s facilities inspected. Also approved were plans to maintain a rapid response team of experts ready to assist facility operators recoverin