08-E Texas Clean Air Cities Coalition (2)

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Don't be , , , POISONED By Ignorance of Pollution from Burning Coal A cause to re-think nuclear powered generators-the rest of the world already has it. Why donlt we? Small nuclear reactors are safe. Nuclear reactors have been used for 50 years on U.S. submarines and military ships. These nuclear reactors are about the size of one (1) room in your house. One small reactor can ,produce the electric power for an average city. Built as a llodule, if it developed a problem, it could be picked up and moved for repair, and a replacement brought in. Pollution Released Each Year In Titus County, TX, and Beyond Nuclear Generator/Anvwhere CO2 None S02 None Lead None Arsenic None Mercurj None Uranium238 None Uranium235 None Thorium234 None Arsenic Mercury Uranium238 Uranium235 Thorium234 Coal Generator/Mt Pleasant, TX CO2 16,584,000 tons1 S02 75,652 tons 1 Lead 45,683 pounds2 ? 28,329 pounds- 2,021 pounds2 20,592 pounds3 147 pounds3 50,688 pounds3 CO2 = Carbon dioxide, "greenhouse gas." The more produced the hotter the Earth becomes. Coal always produces CO2 when burned. 502 = Sulphur dioxide. Causes corrosion from acid rain and stops plant grovvth. Mercury = Poison, cumulative in soil and water, concentrated in fish. Some Texas lakes already have toxic levels.4 Each year, Mt Pleasant coal fired plants add 2,000 Ibs more. Lead is just as poison. Cannot be removed from environment/lakes. Causes birth defects and mental/brain/nervous system disorders, etc. Nuclear Waste = A non-issue; stored on-site.5 Most spent fuel can be recycled (France does). 98% of radioactivity in spent fuel has dissipated in six months.6.7 Sickness: Unusual illness and malignancies, '1-100 miles downwind from coal generators?? 2006: Idaho and Nevada have stopped the permitting of coal-fired power plants because of new asseSSill-:)nts of dangerous pollution8 Governor of Texas ordered expedited permitting of coal-fired plants, before federal controls for pollution are updated9 Smell: Before your school boards, city councils, state legislature, and governor smell the '.,.,oney from the coal- fired utilities and permit 50 Y3ar lifespan coal-fired generators, question everyone of them. You will cough up more than money in the next half century if more coal-fired generators are built. If built, you Day even if thejl C"ce outlawed. U.S. Nuclear Leader?? There are 4:34 nuclear powered electric generators worldwide. The United States has only about 100. France generates 80%)f their power from nuclear energy. The Unit3d States generates less than 15% of our electric power f.-om nuclear energy3 URGENT: We need to stay cool and clean. Talk to you elected officials. If Congress made this 8 "[I.Jlanhattail Project", small nuclear power plants could be operational within about 2 years. j\juclear fuel for electric generators is more than abundantly available from decommissioned atomic warheads that cost billions of tax dollars to store. Coal and gas-fired plants could be retrofitted with nuclear power sources. It would be many tim2s safer for me to have a nuclear-powered generator on my farm than a coal power plant 25- 100 miles away. Save coal and oil for Saran Wrap and materials to replace steel and aluminum. Th~ U.S. could become the world supplier for modular nuclear power plants that we manufactured and had some control for their operation, a good logistical position? The technology is available and operational novv. No inventions needed. This is the way to electric cars and oil independen<:8.