David Graham

Stephen English

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

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^^ШA. ATOMIC ENERGY ^^Ш

1. You will read the opinions of different people from different countries of the world for and against nuclear energy. Say whether you agree or not with them. Use the following phrases and word combinations:

in my opinion to start with the thing is

to my mind as far as I know

the fact is I believe

NUCLEAR ENERGY: PRO AND AGAINST Opinions of Different People on Nuclear Energy David Graham

I doubt that the world will become dependent on nuclear power (or at least the present form of nuclear power). Nuclear research still continues. The Atomic Energy of Canada Limited organization has been studying that for the past two decades and have arrived at a number of conclusions. By burying nuclear waste 500-1000 meters below the surface in plutonic rock, with multiple barriers to protect the surrounding environment and human health from radioactive decay¹.

By looking at extreme models of environmental damage, ideal loca­tions within and without Canada have been studied, and the amounts of radiation even in the extreme cases are less than 2% of the natural back­ground radiation from Carbon-14 in our bones, astral²radiation, and the Sun itself. It is unfortunate with what happened at Chernobyl. If they had surrounded the reactor with a concrete barrier, it wouldn't have been exposed to the air, and wouldn't have melted³ down. The CANDU reactors have set new standards in Nuclear Reactor technology. Even the backup systems have backup systems. If the money and resources are invested in maintaining safe nuclear power, we can all benefit with­out any danger to the environment.

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I have a question: when they bury nuclear waste 500 to 1000 meters underground, what sort of precautions do they take to account for seis-

A. Atomic Energy

mic activity? I would imagine that anything resembling an earthquake or volcanic activity would cause quite a disaster.

To answer your question, Stephen, the studies done by Atomic En­ergy of Canada Limited have taken seismic activity into account with their radiation models. These conclusions are that if disposal vaults' are built in plutonic rock about 500—1000 metres below the surface, there is no seismic activity (or very negligible² activity of only 1 or 2 on the Richter scale). The seismic activity is lowest at the centre of a tectonic plate, which offers numerous potential, non-hazardous disposal sites on each continent. You could live over top of a disposal facility and still receive less radiation that living in any moderately sized city.

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