Oh, that Doctor Jacobsen!
Dr. Jacobsen is a harsh critic of nuclear energy while simultaneously an enormous booster of alternatives like wind and solar power. His nuclear expertise seems non-existent based on research he has been associated with that demonizes nuclear power with suppositions and thin statistical "studies". Just suppose the plants at Fukushima had been burning coal all these years instead of nuclear fuel. How many pollution and mining related deaths would be linkable to the plants in that time, given that the EPA estimates that even modern "clean" US coal plants still cause over 20,000 deaths a year? I am genuinely puzzled by the vehemence with which many boosters of alternatives go after the supposed costs and dangers of nuclear power, when you consider that both have a big role to play in creating a CO2 emission-free society. Also of interest is the fact that these folks all act as though new 3rd and 4th generation nuclear plants will be just as "bad" as they feel the current plants are, when a cursory examination of these plants reveals they are significantly improved designs with remarkable safety features, and the 4th generation plants will be able to extract all the energy left in current nuclear wastes while rendering them so safe they will only need 300 years of storage. The disconnect between facts and public perceptions about nuclear power is just one more example of the unfortunate triumph of raw emotions over respect for reason and science in the current mass culture.
