450 Powerful Pictures from Chernobyl

Just like a train wreak, this image is disturbingly hard to look away from. This reminds me of photographer Chris Jordan's collection that brought to my attention yesterday by a friend.

As devastating as Chernobyl was, only two people were directly killed by the explosion and 31 more died in the following three months. While the loss is tragic, compare that statistic against the untold thousands of coal miners who have died from result of mining accidents and black lung disease.

Looking at the pictures dramatically illustrates the scarring of the land from the Chernobyl accident, however compare that to what strip mining has done to the environment.

With the application of modern plant controls (yes I am biased here) we can easily prevent the next Chernobyl from happening. Even the antiquated controls at Three Mile Island prevented a major catastrophe from happening.

The power grid is dangerously over capacity, and there simply is not enough wind or hydro capacity available in the near future to make up the difference. We urgently need to renew our nuclear program. Unfortunately it's our only source of clean large-scale power available at this time.

Yes, it looks bad. So does anything that sits abandoned and unmaintained for that many years. You don't need a major nuclear accident for that.

Make no mistake, we need nuclear power; just not that type of reactor.

I thought that the only thing really holding back renewables over all traditional sources had come to be identified as an inadequate Grid.

I'm throwing Nuclear power in there now with traditional sources, which you gottah admit is a stretch considering there wasn't a nuclear power plant around when I was born.

At least I've been to Middletown, PA., Harrisburg, and Three Mile Island.

It is a terrific vacation spot and I highly recommend you visit. A really great day to visit upcoming, in about a 1,000 years, will be the re-activation of Stack 3 reactor.

Really, I can't wait!

Still I have lied, I do prefer Scranton and Wilkes Barre over Middletown. Coal Country is more my style. If the girls aren't good looking, they know how to look good around Scranton and Wilke's Barre. Truly I'd love to live forever in the Jerymen Hotel of Downtown Scranton.

Did you know Howard Huges gave 50 Grand to Nixon to encourage him to stop setting off Nuclear Bombs near Las Vegas!

For the life of me, I can't figure out why.

P.S. I did no fact check prior to this post, and some specifics may be untrue. It is true I like Scranton Pennsylvania.