Chernobyl at 25 Years

April 26th, 1986 was a grim day for humanity. That is when the public first became aware of the devastating results of using the radioactive decay of radioactive elements to generate steam for electricity production. Seven years earlier, when the Three Mile Island nuclear facility melted down in the State of Pennsylvania. The radiation that escaped the containment building was done so by "controlled release" rather than in a single explosive event. The fact that TMI did not look like a catastrophe led to one of the most elaborate and convoluted dances ever performed by spin doctors. Chernobyl, on the other hand, was a picture of devastation that we have not seen since, until last month in Japan.

The Russian organization that provides oversight and regulation for their nuclear power industry has estimated that over 35 million people have died as a result of the accident at Chernobyl. The ground around the plant is still experiencing radioactive decay and will continue to do so for many generations. The cost of producing a single watt of power with this short-sighted and irresponsible technology seems to me to be irresponsible in the extreme. In fact, since we knew in advance that there would be accidents, that they would be horrific, and that the results of these accidents would outlive us, I would classify the continued efforts to produce power this way as a crime against humanity. The fact that these injuries are left to the vagaries of "chance", rather than mitigating the responsibility of those who perpetrate the myths behind nuclear power, make it their crimes even more reprehensible.

I have a unique perspective on nuclear accidents. As early as the seventies, my family and I worked endless hours to educate people about the risks associated with the nuclear industry. At the beginning of my own involvement, I realized that the entire nuclear industry was devoted to weapons production. The first step on the path to creating weapons of mass destruction is nuclear power production. Nuclear disarmament begins with putting a stop to electricity generation with these dangerous facilities. Even as a child, I wondered why any government would allow the endangerment of it's own people over a nearly infinite period of time, to "gain" the ultimate weapon with the intended "use" being to kill whole populations in an instant. At the time, we were organizing against Rocky Flats, just North of Denver. Everything we warned could happen there eventually did take place. For a time it was the largest Superfund clean up ever. Now, it will forever be a "wildlife sanctuary" because it will remain unfit for human occupation for centuries.

I believe it was Stalin who said that a thousand casualties are a tragedy, but a million are a statistic. Never before have we found, or funded a "public service" program as tragic as nuclear power generation. Continuing to unleash this terrible power has got to stop if we are to find a path to a sustainable future. In the areas that are most reliant on electricity generated by the use of nuclear generating stations, installation of energy saving devices and energy efficiency improvements can offset more need for power than these facilities produce. All that is required to stop the insanity is to educate ourselves about the true costs of this energy source and to get our leaders to listen to the expression of the will of the people.