You&#x27;re so paralyzed by fear of a nuclear accident you miss the big picture. For example, the fly ash emitted burning coal for electricity carries into the surrounding environment 100 times more radiation than a nuclear power plant producing the same amount of energy.[1] Sure the results of a nuclear meltdown are scary on the local level. But you know what&#x27;s a lot scarier on the global level? Runaway climate change.
It took the worse earthquake in the Japan&#x27;s recorded history along with several human mistakes on an outdated reactor to cause Fukushima. And we don&#x27;t more of these designs.<p>Like the article discussed, what we want is the government to be smart about nuclear power. There 7 million deaths annually due to air pollution. How many American lives are lost due to terrorism? And yet we wasted $4 trillion in the Middle East after 911. Imagine if we spent that on new reactor designs and fusion research?<p>Global warming is the biggest threat facing our species. It&#x27;s time we stopped worrying about our neighborhood and starting thinking about our planet.<p>[1]<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.sciencemag.org&#x2F;content&#x2F;202&#x2F;4372&#x2F;1045.short" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.sciencemag.org&#x2F;content&#x2F;202&#x2F;4372&#x2F;1045.short</a>