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Right here at home we have the same model nuclear plant as the one that has imperiled thousands of people in Japan.
The Oconee plant near Seneca, S.C., is roughly 50 air miles from me in Banks County and parts of Habersham and Rabun counties, and is the very same model as the Fukushima plant. No, we won't have a tidal wave here and probably not an earthquake, but we do have a big problem.
Tons of radioactive waste are piled up in pools waiting until they are cooled down enough to be put somewhere else. Where else? Nobody knows yet, and we keep on piling up more. It takes many hundreds of years until it loses its radioactivity enough to think of moving it.
Every nuclear plant has piles of this dangerous stuff in pools of water to keep it cool enough not to burst into flames. The details from the Fukushima plant are the same as here: Don't let the stuff heat up. If the pool starts leaking, better patch it and add water. Or get ready to evacuate all the residents pretty soon.
Who wants to get close enough to patch the leak? Maybe with heavy shielding and a lot of bravery volunteers might turn up. When Chernobyl blew, workers had to pile up barriers to keep the radioactivity inside but the survivors had death rates higher than the other residents, even with shielding.
If you are curious, you could visit the Oconee plant at its visitors center and read all the material. You won't get zapped there in half an hour and it's worth the trip just to see the three big reactors standing there.
You could also read this week's "Living on Earth," email, loe.org. And Google Sierra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists, Rocky Mountain Institute or just nuclear power and see what turns up. We are all getting educated this week.
Wish us luck!
Adele Kushner
Alto