Nuclear pollution

Radioactive contamination or nuclear pollution is the most dangerous for the environment since the wastes maintain their radioactive properties for thousands of years. There is no way to have them assimilated in the soil, the water or the air in the initial form. Reprocessing is the only solution we have to limit the extent of nuclear pollution and clean the planet from such increasingly harmful residues. The highest likelihood of radioactive elements reaching in open environment is by accident during the transportation to the reprocessing plants located in some parts of the globe. Reprocessing in itself causes other pollution problems adding other risks to an already fragile environment condition.

Presently, no country has efficiently solved the issue of nuclear pollution in terms of radioactive waste storage. Every state would like to send the residues to some other place and be rid of them, while no truly viable conclusion is reached. Storage facilities as such require highly intransigent security and safety rules, periodical checks and regular updates on the storage environment. A responsible management of the nuclear waste would limit the risk of nuclear pollution on the long term, allowing us to live on a cleaner and safer planet, also preventing the temptation of dumping the waste in the oceans.

Nuclear pollution is not the only hazard that comes together with the use of radioactive energy: mass populations are jeopardized on a current basis if something happens to a reactor, as it was the case with the Russian Chernobyl for instance. There are other energy sources that are still highly effective without the huge risks of nuclear pollution or irradiation: geothermal sources, ocean currents, tidal waves, wind and waterfalls, all make alternative power solutions that should not be neglected. Environment-friendly electricity is one of the chances this planet has to survive.

Fish and ocean plants are highly contaminated due to nuclear pollution; Greenpeace has repeatedly signaled out the huge amount of plutonium effluents produced by the nuclear plant on the coasts of England, for instance. Lobsters in the area have been found to be contaminated, hence the effects not only on humans but on the entire ecosystem is devastating. Attempts have been by an American company to even built a radioactive storage facility on Marshall Islands, ignoring the even higher potential threats for nuclear pollution under the circumstances of a growing sea level. Such solutions may appear convenient from a certain perspective, but when considered from a wider point of view, irresponsibility is obvious.