Nuclear Lies, part 2


Last week, I posted part one of my interview with Prof. Karl Grossman, one of the world’s leading anti-nuclear journalists. This week we have part two, and this happens to be the 24th anniversary of the meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine.

Pripyat, a city built around the Chernoby nuclear power plant, is now massive ghost town, thanks to the events of April 1986. It’s one of thousands of abandoned towns and cities in the dead zone of the Ukraine. Photo by: Elena Filatova.

Though this is nearly forgotten, it’s something that we prefer to remember — the technical side of Planet Waves is produced in the Ukraine. Chernobyl was, as well, the incident that focused me on environmental journalism, even though I had no idea how I might do that at the time.

Remember that Chernobyl is not over. It faces a long and uncertain history: we really have no way to tell people in the future how dangerous it is. Maybe there will be a tradition of warning people, but at some point the dangers of radiation might be forgotten, or the temptation of empty land might be too much for nomadic humans to resist.

My conversation with Karl Grossman is intended to establish the history of nuclear power, as well as serve as a warning. In the continuation of this interview, we talk about the economic viability of nuclear power, how we might change the course that the power industry seems to be set upon, and what happened to the plan to make Long Island a “nuclear park.”

For those interested in my prior coverage of the nuclear issue, this article is a good start. This edition of Planet Waves from April 2007 includes an article in Chernobyl (as well as my article on the shootings at Virginia Tech).

Here is your program in the old player, where you’ll find the full archives and a downloadable zip file.

Thanks for tuning in.

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