The Manomet Current - News and Information for Manomet and The Pine hills

If you’ve been listening to local radio stations over the past few months you may have heard messages – sponsored by Entergy – promoting Pilgrim as a “clean” and “emission-free” energy source. This campaign, also known as “greenwashing,” is a form of spin in which public relations or marketing firms deceptively promote the perception that an organization’s products, services, aims or policies are environmentally friendly.

Nuclear power, despite what the nuclear industry tells you, is not carbon free or “green.” Uranium used to generate power at nuclear power plants must be mined, milled, converted, enriched, converted again and then manufactured into fuel. The process requires the use of fossil fuels, and hence, carbon emissions are the consequence. Additionally, the method currently used to produce most of the uranium enriched fuels necessary to power nuclear energy plants emits substantial amounts of environmentally harmful greenhouse gases. The enrichment of uranium generates massive amounts of chlorofluorocarbons which are more damaging as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide and remain the primary agent for stratospheric ozone depletion. It should also be pointed out that nuclear power plants using one-through cooling systems (Pilgrim being one of them) kill billions of marine organisms each year, with far reaching effects.

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