Brief 4 - Message Delivery: Is Nuclear Power just a taboo?

There is a lot of negative press towards Nuclear power, even the idea being suggested as an alternative tends to raise a fair few glares and shaking heads. However is it as bad as people seem to think? What are the real figures and facts behind the use of nuclear power? As a country we need to think of other alternatives for energy understanding that one-day coal will run out and renewable energy may not be substantial enough.

After Chernobyl and Fukushima people are very hesitant and hostile towards the idea of nuclear power. However it can be argued that the proper procedures were not in place when both disaster happened, and although it was a tragic accident, it was perhaps easily avoided If correct precautions were followed.

People worry about radiation from nuclear plants, which is a fair concern, however they seem to overlook the fact that we are subjected to radiation everyday from natural processes, it is not something that is escapable. For example people who live near a large source of granite such as Cornwall have a higher exposer compared to others. Daily checks expose people to a high amount of radiation but this does not seem to be on the same level as nuclear radiation to people. For example x-rays expose you to higher doses of radiation than nuclear radiation.

There are very strict and rigorous plans in place involving both the safety of and in the plant and also in the case of an accident. After Fukushima there were restrictions placed in Tokyo about drinking the radioactive water, and as scary as this sounds they failed to mention that the radiation dose received by drinking the water in Tokyo would have been less than moving to Cornwall and living there for a year.

It is thought that over 100,000 deaths each year is due to coal related air pollution. But this doesn’t seem to be such a worry to people or at least not as much of a concern compared to radiation.