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The Cold War's Legacy of Mutation

Posted by michael on from the third-eye-blind dept.

fm6 writes: "Not surprising, but still pretty sobering: Russian communities downwind from cold-war-era surface testing sites are experiencing 50% increase in mutation rates. I'm reminded of Terry Tempest William's term: Virtual Uninhabitants."

2 of 55 comments (clear)

  1. Don't forget the US by Hard_Code · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://www.nuclearfiles.org/maps/

    http://rex.nci.nih.gov/massmedia/Fallout/content s. html

    --

    It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
  2. Re:Yet you feel free to use electricity by Mr.Ned · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Nukes are more expensive than just about any fuels.

    Right now, world-wide, nukes and solar cost $.10-.20 per KWH. Solar is so expensive because there just hasn't been enough research into it. Nukes are expensive because, again, using subatomic particles to heat water is really quite inefficient. Coal is about $.08-.09 per KWH. It's in pretty good supply, and will last beyond my lifetime.

    However, hydro power is only $.03-.05 per KWH. That's cheap. And it's renewable. Wind is also about $.05 per KWH. Geothermal is $.10 per KWH. Those are cheap! However, the US government is not putting any money into these projects, as they suggest a distributed micropower solution instead of the current centralized macropower gig - that won't sit well with the commercial energy industry.

    Also, you say 'right now' in your post - it's right now and looking like forever. There haven't been any new nuke plants commissioned since 1979. All orders after 1973 have been cancelled. Nuclear power is on its way out as a consumer power supply.