Environmental Research Foundation . . P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403 . .
Subscriptions are free.
To subscribe, E-mail the words . . In older nuclear power plants, catastrophic releases of radioactivity could occur when the nuclear fuel got too hot and melted, burning a hole in the outermost protective shell of the plant, or perhaps allowing an explosion to occur. The sand is chemically processed to extract uranium, which is then sent to a factory where it is turned into fuel pellets, which are then packaged into rods, which are bundled together and inserted into the core of a reactor. The uranium fuel undergoes nuclear fission, heats up, boils water which makes steam, which turns a turbine to make electricity. The people who mine uranium have been treated as a disposable commodity.