Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
materials, including radioactive isotopes, typically by or with the collu-
sion of insiders. The correction of these problems has been further
hampered by the fact that the government agency responsible for moni-
toring the safe operation of nuclear facilities in Russia has long been
underfunded and understaffed and has demonstrated little ability to exert
independent oversight over either the civilian or military components of
the Russian nuclear complex.
A country hosting an international repository must also be willing to
subject its operation to international oversight, and its credibility in
providing full information on the status of nuclear materials must be
exceptionally high. Russia's record of continued secrecy and deception
on key nuclear issues does not inspire confi dence and trust. The Russian
government has provided quite a bit of information on contaminated
sites, but it continues to prosecute whistle-blowers and to fall back on
old habits of secrecy and denial whenever convenient. Independent
surveys reveal that 90 percent of Russians polled opposed importing
nuclear waste. The government chose to ignore this information, a
damning testament to the weakness of democracy in Russia today. Spec-
ulation about the security and viability of the Russian solution to the
world's spent fuel dilemma cannot be divorced from speculation about
Russia's future political trajectory.
What's the Bottom Line?
The evidence is overwhelming that nuclear plants should not be built
anywhere in the world. They are more expensive to build and operate
than other types of alternative renewable energy, and they leak radiation
that many investigators have shown cause cancers of several types in
both plant workers and people living nearby. Children are particularly
affected. The possibility of reactor malfunctions and accidents caused by
human error can never be eliminated, terrorist threats are always present,
and there is no politically or scientifi cally acceptable way to dispose of
nuclear waste.
Perhaps nuclear energy's biggest disadvantage is international secu-
rity. The level of confi dence in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and
nuclear safeguards is low. North Korea is the latest country to show how
easy it is to divert nuclear fuel to make weapons, and nuclear sites are
likely to remain targets for terrorists. Such concerns should limit where
plants can be built, but they do not. Politically unstable countries are
increasingly likely to build nuclear plants.
