This fact sheet is produced by the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility. It is important for our Legislators in WY and the public at large to be informed about the realities of nuclear energy. The promises of green funding by our ever expanding federal green policies are not viable programs for the State of WY to take a risk. Nuclear reactors are being shut down at great expense world wide and in the US. Why are we even thinking about proliferating toxic storage of waste material and an unproven source of consistent energy that does not help the bottom line of energy expense for the people in WY. So if you hear that we need it for medical reasons: its simply another lie to promote a temporary money grab from federal and private sources. They are really up to controlling a program that our state will end up needing to charge its citizens to maintain and complete. This would be a great expense and we wouldn't be the first state to be duped.
Modern medicine does not depend on nuclear power. All electricity producing reactors could be shut down permanently with little or no impact on best medical practices.
- X-rays and CT - scans are by far the most common forms of "radiation" used by doctors, dentists and nurses in hospitals and clinics. These have nothing to do with radioactivity or nuclear reactors.
- When X-ray machines and CT scanners are turned off, they are completely harmless. There is no more radiation emitted. There is no radioactivity at all associated with such machines.
- Some radioactive materials are used in medicine for diagnosis or therapy. In addition, some are used to sterilize instruments and equipment such as masks, needles, and other paraphernalia.
- Radioactive materials for medical use are called "medical isotopes" or "radio pharmaceuticals". Some of them emit gamma radiation (similar to X-rays, but stronger). Some emit fast-moving subatomic projectiles – electrically charged alpha particles, beta particles, or positrons.
- All radioactive emissions are harmful to living cells, especially rapidly dividing cells. They can therefore be used to destroy malignant growths or kill microorganisms so as to sterilize equipment.
- Radioactivity is hazardous, and it cannot be turned off like an X-ray machine. So the use of radioactive materials in medicine requires careful control at all times – before, during and after use.
- Some radioactive materials that are used in medicine, such as radium, radon and thorium, are extracted from naturally-occurring ores and have nothing at all to do with nuclear reactors.
- Some radioactive materials used in medicine are created in a "particle accelerator" such as a cyclotron or a linear accelerator. These devices have nothing in common with nuclear reactors.
- Some radioactive materials used in medicine are created in small research reactors that do not generate electricity. They are typically 20 to 300 times smaller than nuclear power reactors.
- A few medically useful radioactive isotopes are produced in large power reactors, but they can equally well be produced in research reactors. Sometimes the same radioactive material, or an alternative material that serves the same purpose, can be produced in a particle accelerator.
- Damage to healthy cells by radioactivity may lead to cancer years later or to undesired genetic mutations.Infants and fetuses are more readily harmed than adults because cell growth is rapid.
- Some medical procedures that once relied on radioactivity have been replaced by procedures that are just as good or better and do not require handling radioactive sources.
- Many hospitals that have used X-rays or gamma emitting cobalt-60 therapy to destroy cancerous tumors are now using beams of charged particles as well. This more modern medical technology is very effective and has nothing to do with radioactivity or with nuclear reactors.
- Powerful gamma-emitting cobalt-60, created in a reactor, is often used to sterilize medical equipment. But sterilization can be done in other ways that use no radioactive materials at all.
Hospitals do not need nuclear power, and never have. Any isotopes (radioactive materials) that are considered medically required can be produced by accelerators or small research reactors. Medical procedures that do not involve radioactivity are increasingly preferred.
For more educated details on any of these 14 points, click here.