Saturday, February 27, 2010

Nuclear leaks and meltdowns

Henry David Thoreau once said, “Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth”. I agree with him and I am really glad that this statement is happen to be rue. One of the most dangerous pollutions is nuclear meltdowns. Over the years, nuclear leaks have become an increasingly dangerous problem with damaging effects on earth, animals, and humans.

The most significant effect done by nuclear leaks is earth pollution. According to Nuclear Energy Agency (2002), the Chernobyl disaster initiated the release of enormous amounts of radiation into the atmosphere in the form of both particle and gaseous radioisotopes, and is the most dangerous aimless release of radiation into the environment to date. Settled on trees, these radioactive particles killed a large swath of pine forest. It was named the Red Forest. The dead pines were bulldozed and buried.

Nuclear leaks, due to their radioactivity, have a harmful effect on animals too. Mycio, Mary (2005) showed in her work that the area of Chernobyl disaster had physical deformities in the plant and animal populations. This abnormality is the negative effect of radioactive meltdown that triggers irreversible consequences. Matter fact that radioactivity can alter genetic material of all the living things for thousands of years.

Also pollution of this source can be deadly for the humans. According to the American Nuclear Society (2008), using the official radiation emission figures and I quote, "The average radiation dose to people living within ten miles of the Three miles island plant was eight millirem, and no more than 100 millirem to any single individual. Eight millirem is about equal to a chest X-ray, and 100 millirem is about a third of the average background level of radiation received by US residents in a year." However, these low emission figures oppose to the early scientific publications on the health effects and cancer deaths in the 10-mile area around Three Miles Island. Even a small dose of radiation can kill a lot
people.

To conclude, nuclear leaks and meltdowns have very bad consequences

2 comments:

  1. Gosh! Seems like you finish the paper! ;)

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  2. You are an idiot. If your knowledge of nuclear power is anything compared to that of your English, then it makes me feel safe and secure near a nuclear power plant.

    ReplyDelete