Coast to Coast AM

Chris Kacher talks about nuclear power and the misconceptions surrounding the dangers of nuclear power. While he acknowledges that the nuclear crisis in Japan is a tragedy, he opines that the "situation is not as bad" as it is being portrayed in the media. To that end, he cites a nuclear engineer from UC Berkley who believes that the current high levels of radiation are "unlikely to be a long term health hazard, because these levels will drop." On the dangers of nuclear power, in general, Chris notes that all of the plants around the world constitute 14,000 cumulative years of operation and that the Japanese crisis accounts for only the third disaster. He contrasts this with coal power plants, which he calls the "silent killer," because they cause far more health problems, but take years for their effects to become apparent.