The Fukushima, Japan nuclear accident has again raised questions about the use of this source of energy. Some info from the paper today. Radiation from the explosion is expected to reach the west coast of the US-California-by weeks end. Can we assume it will reach Hawaii sooner? I don't know; maybe the wind currents will take it elsewhere. The Chernobyl explosion in 1986 "spread (radiation) around the globe and reached the West Coast of the US in 10 days, its levels measurable but minuscule". The Diablo Canyon plant in California is near earthquake fault lines. The Indian Point plant is 35 miles north of NYC and "near a fault line". The Perry plant east of Cleveland is "within 40 miles of two faults". This industry is regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission NRC. (As you might guess, I am not a fan of nuclear power).
(Source: Info taken from The Virginian Pilot on 3/17/11).
Update 3/19/11. The risks from radiation are not always easy to determine. Levels of radiation are measured in "millisieverts per hour"; a check x-ray is 0.15 millisieverts p/h. A high dose is over 500 millisieverts p/h and "can raise the risk of leukemia, breast, bladder, colon, liver, lung, esophageal, ovarian and stomach cancers and "the blood cancer multiple myeloma". A debate centers around the number of deaths caused by the Chernobyl accident. This source notes that there have been 6000 tyroid cancer deaths in the 25 years since 1986. "The US EPA says no amount of radiation is absolutely safe above the 3 to 6 millisieverts a year that most of us get from normal living". (I wonder if that sentence is correct)
(Source: "Risks aren't always clear in exposure to radiation" the AP. In The Virginian Pilot on 3/19/11).
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