Politicians+Per+3-4

media type="custom" key="7119811" = Nuclear VS. Coal =
 * AS POLITICIANS WE ARE FOR A NUCLEAR ENERGY PLANT TO BE BUILT IN COUNCIL BLUFFS:**


 * Since air pollution from coal burning is estimated to be causing 10,000 deaths per year, there would have to be 25 melt-downs each year for nuclear power to be as dangerous as coal burning.
 * Nuclear power costs about the same as coal, so it's not expensive to make.
 * Nuclear power does not produce smoke or carbon dioxide, so it does not contribute to the greenhouse effect, unlike coal.
 * Nuclear power produces huge amounts of energy from small amounts of fuel, with little amounts of waste.
 * Nuclear power is reliable.
 * Nuclear power is reliable, and a lot of money will be spent on safety
 * [|http://www.nei.org]
 * COSTS RELATED TO THE REACTORS:**
 * $2,980,000 per unit for power reactor licensees
 * $57,300 for nonpower (research and test) reactor licensees
 * $2,607,000 for high-enriched uranium fuel licensees
 * $1,280,000 for low-enriched fuel fabrication licensees which manufacture fuel for nuclear power plants
 * $14,100 for radiographers
 * $23,500 for broad scope medical licensees
 * These costs equal up to a total of $6,961,900


 * PROPERTY TAXES WOULD BE COLLECTED:**
 * Property taxes can result in a plant paying up to $ 15-20 million per year in property taxes.
 * This means the reactors would pay for themselves in a matter of a couple of years.
 * [|http://www.nucleartourist.com]


 * HOW MUCH THE ELECTRICITY WOULD ACTUALLY COST:**
 * Company's that operate the USA's nuclear power reactors have made excellent profits over the last five years. The US Nuclear Power industry has lived up to its promise made in in 1970's to produce electricity reliably and cheaply. Since 1987 the cost of producing electricity from has decreased from 3.63 cents per KWHr to 1.68 cents per KWHr in 2004 and plant availability has increased from 67% to over 90%. The operating cost includes a charge of 0.2 cents per KW-Hr to fund the eventual disposal of waste from the reactor and for decommissioning the reactor. The price of Uranium Ore contributes approximately 0.05 cents per KWHr.
 * [|http://nuclearinfo.net]


 * NUMBER OF JOBS THAT WILL BE CREATED:**
 * Brings careers in the Nuclear Industry
 * It will employ 400 to 700 people long-term at salaries typically 36 percent higher than average salaries in the local area
 * Careers in nuclear energy offer challenging work with competitive salaries and benefits. The industry needs engineers, technicians, craft workers and other professionals in positions ranging from entry-level to mid-career and those with military training and service.


 * SAFETY OF THE REACTORS:**
 * A fuel melt-down might be expected once in 20,000 years of reactor operation. In 2 out of 3 melt-downs there would be no deaths, in 1 out of 5 there would be over 1000 deaths, and in 1 out of 100,000 there would be 50,000 deaths. The average for all meltdowns would be 400 deaths.
 * The April 1986 disaster at the Chernobyla nuclear power plant in the Ukraine, was the product of a flawed Soviet reactor design coupled with serious mistakes made by the plant operators. It was a direct consequence of Cold War isolation and the resulting lack of any safety culture.
 * This basiclly means disasters can and would be easily avoided.
 * [|http://www.umich.edu]
 * http://www.world-nuclear.org


 * HEALTH ISSUES OF THE REACTOR**:
 * Radiation occurs naturally in our environment; a typical person is, and always has been struck by 15,000 particles of radiation every second from natural sources, and an average medical X-ray involves being struck by 100 billion. While this may seem to be very dangerous, it is not, because the probability for a particle of radiation entering a human body to cause a cancer or a genetic disease is only one chance in 30 million billion (30 quintillion). Nuclear power technology produces materials that are active in emitting radiation and are therefore called "radioactive". These materials can come into contact with people principally through small releases during routine plant operation, accidents in nuclear power plants, accidents in transporting radioactive materials, and escape of radioactive wastes from confinement systems, but all of them taken together, with accidents treated probabilistically, will eventually expose the average American to about 0.2% of his exposure from natural radiation. Since natural radiation is estimated to cause about 1% of all cancers, radiation due to nuclear technology should eventually increase our cancer risk by 0.002% (one part in 50,000), reducing our life expectancy by less than one hour. By comparison, our loss of life expectancy from competitive electricity generation technologies, burning coal, oil, or gas, is estimated to range from 3 to 40 days.
 * [|http://www.umich.edu]


 * SPACE TAKEN UP BY THE REACTOR**
 * Usually nuclear plants have very compact sites of 500 to 1000 acres including the exclusion area around the plant.