This, in turn, could lead to another disastrous round of civilian nuclear reactor construction, further radioactive contamination of the Earth's air, soil, and water, and an even larger nuclear waste dilemma. Some extracts from this brief follow. Sources of the SECC information cited are at the bottom of the page. Energy efficiency measures and renewable energy sources offer the best solutions to global warming. This is about twice the total gross private domestic investment in ALL sectors of the U.S. economy in 1987.
Nuclear power poses serious threats to the environment as well as human and animal health.
These threats arise from the routine venting of radioactive materials into the environment, nuclear accidents, and the creation and storage of highly radioactive waste materials. Since the spent fuel pools do not have containment structures, there would be nothing to prevent the melting fuel material from escaping into the environment. If the 400 new nuclear plants discussed above were built, this would quintuple the number of civil power reactors in the country. Reactor accidents pose a significant threat to health and the environment. 12 German and Swedish scientists have predicted a 70 percent chance of a Chernobyl-scale accident occuring at one of the world's nuclear reactors every five or six years.