Encore Edition: Nuclear Power – Debating the Future of Energy
August 24th, 2010
Host Daphne Wysham interviews Dr. Helen Caldicott about the influences exerted by the nuclear power industry. Then Brad Plumer of New Republic moderates a debate at the National Press Club between Arjun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research and Dr Patrick Moore, co-chair of the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition about the safety, cost and feasibility of nuclear power as a solution to the climate crisis.
Our theme music is Baladi by Tony Anka, Bellydance Superstars vol. 2.
Image used courtesy of Michael S. Anderson via Flickr
If you’d like to hear this edition of Earthbeat – please send us an e-mail
August 25th, 2010 at 5:40 am
Dr. Caldicott made so many incorrect statements that it would be difficult to address them all. However, she made some comments about the health effects of tritium that need to be contrasted against the following statement from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s fact sheet on tritium:
http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/radionuclides/tritium.html#inthebody
“Health Effects of Tritium
How does tritium affect people’s health?
As with all ionizing radiation, exposure to tritium increases the risk of developing cancer. However, because it emits very low energy radiation and leaves the body relatively quickly, for a given amount of activity ingested, tritium is one of the least dangerous radionuclides. Since tritium is almost always found as water, it goes directly into soft tissues and organs. The associated dose to these tissues are generally uniform and dependent on the tissues’ water content.”