“When It Goes Bad, It Goes Really Bad”

Atomic States of America director Don Argott talks about our uncertain nuclear future.
[link to blogs.phillymag.com]

[snip]

What about plants closer to home?

We have the Limerick plant that’s in Pottstown. And Harrisburg isn’t far away. For the most part, the industry hasn’t seen major accidents. When accidents do happen, they aren’t normally gigantic accidents. They can be small accidents, leaks into the groundwater. One statistic we use in the film is that three quarters of the nation’s nuclear plants are leaking radioactive tritium into groundwater. This is not a good thing. They are not supposed to do this. A lot of these plants are 20 and 30 years old, and they keep getting re-licensed.

So if something does go horribly wrong, are we ready for it?

Unfortunately, we’re under-prepared. In the United States, evacuation zones are ten miles. But in Fukushima, even 50 miles wasn’t adequate. That’s a big problem with Indian Point 50 miles from New York. People say, “Well, what are the chances?” Well, the plants are aging, the technology is extremely dangerous, and if there’s a major nuclear accident, you’re going to render entire areas uninhabitable for thousands of years. With nuclear energy, when it goes bad, it goes really bad. In ways that we’re not used to.