TRUTHOUT INTERVIEWS CANDICE BERND on AGING NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS ... particularly a case in point: DIABLO CANYON POWER PLANT in San Luis Obispo County, California The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster three years ago has superseded the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 as the worst nuclear power plant disaster in the world. The amount of nuclear material spilling into the sea from the Fukushima disaster continues and is now showing up on the west coast of North America. To be sure, level 7 events like Fukushima and Chernobyl are rare, but the environmental and health consequences persist for decades. To say that nuclear power is fraught with controversy is an understatement, and the latest controversy involves the effects of aging nuclear power plants on the communities that surround them. Case in point: the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in San Luis Obispo County in California. A recent research project found the levels of Strontium-90 in a sample of baby teeth from the central coast region of California near the Diablo Canyon have increased since the plants opening in the mid-80s. Strontium-90 is a radioactive isotope that is produced through nuclear fission. Not only have the levels of Strontium-90 increased, but incidents of cancer in San Luis Obispo County -- and farther south to Santa Barbara -- have increased as well. Candice Bernd, Assistant editor and staff writer at Truthout, wrote a piece about the aging of Diablo Canyon Power Plant and the possible connection between the aging components and structure of the power plant and the spike in cancer in the area. As were careful to note in the interview, the findings of the research paper that forms the basis of Candices report are preliminary. The causal connection between the rise in cancer rates and Strontium-90 levels in the baby teeth samples with the aging of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant need more studies to confirm the connection. However, this first step is one that should spur citizens to pressure the government to investigate the matter and not let the nuclear industry lobby (or its allies) wave away this evidence as insignificant. https://youtube/watch?v=Zst3U1fstRs Truthout article link here: truth-out.org/news/item/22324-study-nuclear-reactors-are-toxic-to-surrounding-areas-especially-as-plants-age
Posted on: Thu, 03 Jul 2014 03:34:51 +0000
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