|
Many Hands Network joins like-minded, compassionate people who want to help heal our global home. If you are concerned about the state of our world, check out the Many Hand Network pages regularly to stay informed on human rights, animal welfare and environmental issues, and add your voice and effort to those who would make our planet a safer, peaceful and more just world, and home, to all species. |
|
Great Mystery Publishing PO BOX 41 ALDERLEY QLD 4051 AUSTRALIA
|
|
To contact |
|
GMP Archives
Select articles, information, and images on important topics currently stored in GMP’s archives—Polar Bears Dying Due to Global Warming, Quarter of Earth’s Species will be Lost by 2050, Japan Faces Whale Meat Glut, Help Important Causes including Rainforest Preservation, Helping Underprivileged Children, Protecting Pets, Stop Violence Against Women, Protect the Oceans and Marine Wild-Life and other important causes without spending a cent, and the Hidden War on Women in Iraq. Click here to enter Archives. |
|
“Even a small star shines in the darkness.” - Finnish Proverb |
|
David Suzuki on NUCLEAR ENERGY —YES OR NO?
“Nuclear energy has had several decades to develop and I am willing to consider it as a possible option. This is a mega-technology...this is big-scale. Philosophically, I prefer more diverse, small-scale solutions than the big-scale, technological fix. Before you even begin to seriously discuss nuclear energy as something you are going for, you have to answer some questions. · Cost—The nuclear industry has bragged ever since its inception, that this type of electricity generation is cheap. This is the biggest lie ever perpetrated. They used to say it is going to be so cheap, they wouldn’t even monitor the energy in your home. It would be vast and it just so abundant, no problem. They would just make the electricity and you would just pay a set fee. Nuclear energy is the most expensive form of energy we have ever had. In Ontario (Canada’s largest province) , our industrial heartland, 40% of the electricity is nuclear. They have a debt of over 40 billion dollars that Ontario citizens are paying off every month in their bills and almost all of that 40 billion dollar debt is from the nuclear industry. So, first of all, if you are a fiscally-responsible government, I would think that the cost argument better be dealt with in a very serious fashion. This is NOT a cheap form of energy. · Reliability—When you put your eggs in the “nuclear energy” basket, you are depending on a mega-technology. If anything goes wrong, you are screwed. The experience in Canada, is that these nuclear facilities are breaking down all over the place. There are leaks developing, cracks, all kinds of accidental ventings of radioactive gas. And when the plants are shut down, then we have to buy our energy from the United States, or somewhere else. And after months and months, and costing tens of millions of dollars more, we eventually get them back on-line. This is a very risky technology. It’s expensive and it is not reliable. · Terrorism — We live in a world after 9/11, where terrorism is a very real possibility. Darlington is the largest nuclear plant in Canada, right next to Toronto. It has been shown, time and time again, you just have to have an IQ of five, in order to get in there. If someone wants to break into this facility to blow it up or steal radioactive material, it is easy. So if you are going to make a nuclear facility truly terrorist-proof, the cost of that is going to be enormous. And don’t say that this is not a real problem. It is! · Waste Disposal—What do you do with the waste? This problem has not been dealt with. The Americans have Yucca Flats in Colorado. They have said it is geologically so stable, that if they put radioactive material down in a mine in Yucca Flats, it will move at the rate of one centimetre every thousand years. A few years ago, they decided to do a test to see whether that is true. They took a great big slab of rock out of the mine and they injected a pulse of radioactive material at one end. And guess what? They had to stop the experiment. The radioactivity moved through that rock so fast, it would have moved a mile and a half in a year! (Over 50 000 tons of highly radioactive waste is already stored at Yucca Mountain. This type of waste remains highly radioactive, and extremely hazardous for tens of thousands of years.)
“We are so ignorant about how the world is structured and we want to foist a technology whose waste will be around for tens of thousands of years. There are so many other options to consider. To come out, like that, I’ve suddenly been converted. Global warming is happening and here’s the solution—nuclear energy? That’s crazy!” - David Suzuki
***************************
|
|
Check out GMP’s New Organic Gardening Section—Includes companion planting chart, recipes for effective, natural (non-polluting) garden sprays & mulching information to help prevent water loss. |
|
NUCLEAR OR RENEWABLE ENERGY? |
|
Modern Man is the victim of the very instruments he values most. Every gain in power, every mastery of natural forces, every scientific addition to knowledge, has proved potentially dangerous, because it has not been accompanied by equal gains in self-understanding and self-discipline. Lewis Mumford (1895 - 1990) |
|
A Japanese company has just developed a spherical solar cell. Much more efficient than the standard flat photovoltaic technologies, these cells are generated by melting silicon and subjecting it to free fall and microgravity, limiting the amount of raw materials wasted to create the final product. While standard photovoltaic cells need to be sited for maximum exposure to source sunlight or mounted on electronic tracking devices, spherical cells capture sunlight from all directions. Great news in the race to deal with global warming.
|
|
Proposals would turn highways into wind farms Several recent student designs have proposed that major roadways be retrofitted with various forms of wind energy collection devices, such as overhead turbines that collect energy from quickly-moving cars. " One 1.8 MW wind turbine at a reasonable site would produce over 4.7 million units of electricity each year, enough to meet the annual needs of over 1,000 households, or to run a computer for over 1,620 years. " - www.britishwindenergy.co.uk |
|
“And yes, some of you might shiver. The words nuclear power station and major population centre, aren’t exactly the happiest of bedfellows. But I give you my personal guarantee that ...no harm will come to any of my citizens.” (said just before a catastrophe) Politician, Dr Who—"Boomtown” |
|
“THE NEW NUCLEAR DANGER: GEORGE W. BUSH'S MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX” By Dr. Helen Caldicott
In a world torn apart by wars over oil, politicians have increasingly begun to look for alternative energy sources-and their leading choice is nuclear energy.
The myths that have been spread about nuclear-powered electricity are that it does not cause global warming or pollution, it is inexpensive and it is safe.
In this revealing examination of the costs and consequences of nuclear energy, world-renowned Nobel Peace Prize nominee Helen Caldicott uncovers the facts that belie the nuclear industry propaganda: nuclear power contributes to global warming; the true cost of nuclear power is prohibitive, with taxpayers picking up most of the tab; there's simply not enough uranium in the world to sustain nuclear power over the long term; and the potential for a catastrophic accident or a terrorist attack far outweighs any benefits.
Trained as a physician and thoroughly versed in the science of nuclear energy, the bestselling author of Nuclear Madness and Missile Envy here turns her attention from nuclear bombs to nuclear lightbulbs. As she makes meticulously clear in this essential book, the world cannot withstand either.
The New Press (2001, revised and updated 2004) (US, Canada, UK); ISBN:1565847407 |
|
"The destiny of humans cannot be separated from the destiny of earth." —Thomas Berry, historian. |
Unique Method Uses Solar Power To Create Hydrogen“Nano-Filament” Solar Cell Breaks Efficiency Record |
|
Great Mystery Publishing |
|
Many Hands Network |
|
Site search tool by http://www.jrank.org/
|