Wow.
Tuesday night at our debate on nuclear power, over 130 people turned out. That is so awesome!
Our panelists from the Alliance for Affordable Energy, Public Citizen, Clean Energy America and Entergy duked it out over the nuke issue. In case you missed it, we'll be posting the footage soon here. In the meantime I'll write a few key points that were made by each side:
Pro Nuclear:
We need baseload power, and nuclear power is cleaner than coal and natural gas
Nuclear generation has zero carbon footprint
It's safe. No deaths have occurred in America
All the nuclear reactors in America have so far only generated waste that would fill a football field 7 yards deep.
Reactors put back 98% of the water they use
They are very well monitored and regulated
Solar power has toxic components. No power supply is risk-free.
The sun doesn't shine and wind doesn't blow 24/7, but Uranium always produces heat (baseload)
Anti Nuclear:
The startup cost is very large. New plant in Georgia needs $8 billion from the government. Plants cannot be created based on market forces alone. That money should be used to fund decentralized solar power in homes instead
We don't need baseload power any more. Just like centralized supercomputers for processing have fallen by the wayside to decentralized iPads and laptops, we can decentralize power generation
Nobody has agreed on a way to dispose of the waste
Nuclear power uses lots of water
It's dangerous, as can be seen by Fukushima Daiichi
The regulators do not actually do as much as they should
Check back soon for the footage and pictures!
Get a bike!
Taco
President ~ Tulane Green Club
No comments:
Post a Comment