San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station No. 1 was built in California in 1968. It operated for 25 years with no deaths or injuries. Nos. 2 and 3, built in the ’70s, are still operating with no deaths or injuries.
Three Mile Island’s No. 2 station had a partial meltdown in 1979 with no deaths or injuries. No. 1 was built in 1974 and is still one of the best power stations in the country. Zero deaths or injuries.
Chernobyl was the site of the worst nuclear plant accident in the world, in 1986. Fifty deaths of plant staff and emergency workers were attributed to the accident. Between zero and 1 million were injured, depending on whose estimate you look at or believe.
We have killed approximately 2.3 million people on our highways since the 1968 San Onofre plant went online. We are killing about 40,000 people every year in vehicles. Where is the outcry from those against nuclear power to save lives on our roads?
They want to build big windmill farms that kill birds and take 40 square miles of land to produce less electricity than three nuke plants on a 100-acre plot, each with three times the output of the windmill farm. Look it up yourself.
Around the world there are 442 nuclear plants — 104 are in the USA. From 1951 to January 2009, the world has produced 64,600 billion kilowatt hours of electricity. That comes to 14,174 years by September 2010 (euronuclear.org). By the way, the first nuclear plant was built in Arco, Idaho, Dec. 20, 1951.
Rick Bleasdale
Marysville
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