Dr Chanda Siddoo-Atwal, primary biochemist of Moondust Cosmetics Ltd, examines the realities of nuclear energy
Right now, the climate crisis across the world is as urgent as ever. The landmark IPCC Report, compiling seven years worth of evidence, suggests that human intervention is definitively escalating global warming. So, the time is beyond nigh for an international energy infrastructure that is renewable and green.
While some countries are moving to invest in new, renewable technologies, others are proposing to use technologies which are rendered not-so-green under further examination.
Nuclear fission, an incredibly potent reaction, is considered by some Western countries to be the meaningful way forward into green energy. The devastation that follows nuclear violence, or nuclear waste, is a factor that is not appropriately considered in some calculations of reaching zero-carbon by 2030.
Did you know that nuclear waste impacts marine systems? According to Dr Siddoo-Atwal, the Irish, Baltic and Northern Sea are host to a range of slowly unfolding nuclear consequences.
Ecosystems which appear healthy are simply hosting a future crisis. Radioactive liquids and gaseous waste is an integral part of creating nuclear energy, which will directly impact the lives of people living nearby. Currently, the pandemic has highlighted how terrible public health can be when respiratory health is already degraded by air pollution – with some inner city areas across the world registering high levels of virus-related death, in contrast to communities living in less polluted zones.
Now, studies also find evidence of increased Leukaemia in Irish children living near a modern-day nuclear processing facility.
This incidence of cancer in both children and adults is directly connected to the existence of nuclear facilities, which suggests a dark future for those living in any proximity to such an institution.
To find out the specificities of the science behind this connection, what nuclear fission really means, and more – look no further.