Northwest Missouri State University - Tower Yearbook (Maryville, MO)

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JVo nukes is good nukes? the life of the plant has expired. And it should be dismantled. Some Missouri residents were concerned that if Proposition 11 passed, it would force the Callaway Plant to shut down. Proposition 11 is a mistake because no state wants to have these nuclear wastes disposed of in their state. The whole idea is politically based and the federal government will have to take care of the waste and clean up. I don ' t feel the bond has that much to do with the whole area of nuclear power. It is just a way to keep the pleuit from opening, said Carpen- 14 NUCLEAR POWER ter. Those who favored nuclear energy thought that the problem of radioactive waste was being handled by the nuclear industry already. Plant technicians, they pointed out, were diligent about detecting and disposing of radioactive waste. One entire wing of the $400 million Cooper Plant, for example, was devoted entirely to waste disposal. All waste, from old work clothes to waste water from the plant ' s laundry, was carefully analyzed for any traces of radioactivity before plant workers decided how to dispose of it. If contaminants were detected in used clothing or tools, those articles were put into barrels and shipped to Nevada or Washington for containment in safe burial sites. Water from any part of the plant that was found to contain radiation contamination was care- fully filtered of the contaminants before being flushed into the Missouri River. distilled into resins and encased in concrete blocks, which were welded

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country. As spokesmen for the nuclear industry are quick to point out, these seven instances occurred at military test reactors, exper- imental facilities for weapons research and chemical processing plants, none of which resemble the nuclear plants in operation today. Proponents of nuclear energy believe that the extensive safety precautions taken by tiie nuclear power industry make it one of the safest industries in the country. Critics of nuclear energy disagree, however. ■ ' I feel nuclear power plants have good points and bad points. I don ' t know that much about the whole process, but I do know I wouldn ' t want to live by one because of the dangers of leaks and radiation, said J ana Glaze. The problem of disposal of nuclear waste created a major controversy in Missouri as citizens voted on Proposition 11. Proposition 11 called for the estabhshment of a permanent waste disposal site to be licensed and operating before radioactive waste is produced in Missouri. Proposition 11 also required that the ultimate waste cleanup costs be covered by requiring utilities to post a decommissioning bond. Much of the controversy surround- ing Proposition 11 concerned the effect it would have on the The Cooper Nuclear Power Plant at Brownville, Neb., is an hour ' s drive from Maryville. The plant has been in operation for six years. completion of the Callaway Nuclear Power Plant in Fulton. Under Proposition 11, the Callaway plant would be dismantled after its operating life of 35 to 40 years was over. In addition, all waste would have to be disposed of and the plant would have to post a bond covering the cost of dismantling before it could go into operation. I think Proposition 11 is a good deal because it will prevent the plant from opening until more extensive research can be don, said Hayden. I don ' t understand everything concerning the bond to be posted before it opens, but I definitely think, that all wastes should be properly disposed of after continued NUCLEAR POWER 13

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ine students express their lion of nuclear power by putting iper stickers on their cars. Northwest students belonging to Citizens for a Radioactive Waste Policy distribute pamphlets in front of Hy-Vee. into steel containers and shipped to federal depositories. The fuel for the plant consisted of pellets of Uranium contained in bundles; 538 of these pellets were used at a time. Upon arrival at the plant, the bundles were fully stable and could be handled without the need of any special protection devices. Once used, however, the pellets became highly radioactive and were than stored in a water pool. These water pools will not fill up for 25 years and have proved to be very effective shields against radiation. For some, such assurances of safety were not enough to convince them of the safety of nuclear energy. Many held the opinion that nuclear power was too hazardous to use until a better method of disposing of nuclear waste was developed. The Callaway Plant would produce up to 74,000 pounds of spent fuel and at least 26,000 cubic feet of low level radioactive waste. Some of this waste may have to be buried in Missouri, according to the builders. While there was no consensus among students and faculty about the safety or desirability of nuclear energy, the interest and concern about the issue was one more indication of the broadening spec- trum of involvement on campus. -Carol Sanr; NUCLEAR POWER 15