Nuclear Power

Over 4000 civilians were killed as a direct result of being

irradiated by the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant’s
Number 4 reactor exploding in 1986. I’m Walker Roberts
and I’m talking to you today about my campaign to stop
the construction of a large nuclear power facility in our
state. If this reactor is built, it will not only be the largest
ever built in the United States, but also potentially the
most dangerous. I’ve done the research on every major
nuclear accident that has happened in the 20th century
and in this speech I will be talking about the three big
ones; Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and Fukashima.
First, the Chernobyl disaster. In 1986 during a routine
safety exercise, a combination of design flaws and
operator incompetence led to the reactor momentarily
reaching prompt criticality, or an exponential increase in
nuclear reactions, which flash-vaporized the surrounding
water coolant into steam and caused a violent explosion.
The subsequent fire caused an updraft that pumped out
massive quantities of radioactive material, and it was
only after 9 had days passed that the disaster finally
under control. [http://www.world-
nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-
security/safety-of-plants/chernobyl-accident.aspx]
Perhaps less disastrous but undoubtedly no less
significant was the Three Mile Island incident in 1979. It
started when a series of mechanical failures led to a
reactor coolant valve being stuck open, and this
somehow being indicated on the control interface as
being closed. The subsequent confusion over this
situation led to the core partially melting down, even
though this time there was no actual explosion. The
public reaction to this was so hostile that the reactor
boom of the 1970s was stopped in its tracks, and the
nuclear industry in the US was put under heavy
regulation. [https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-
collections/fact-sheets/3mile-isle.html]
Finally we look and the most recent accident, Fukashima.
During the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake the Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear reactor was shut down, rendering the
plant powerless. The Tsunami that followed destroyed
the No 1, 2 and 3 reactors, all suffering partial meltdowns
and explosions for some time afterward. The surrounding
area was evacuated shortly after, leaving many people
homeless. The effects of this most recent disaster are still
being dealt with to this day. [http://www.world-
nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-
security/safety-of-plants/fukushima-accident.aspx]
Today I warned you about the danger of nuclear power
by highlighting the three big nuclear accidents of the 20 th
century. Remember Chernobyl? In 1953 there was
another accident, again in the Soviet Union and it was
kept in secret for almost 40 years! Now I want all of you
in the audience to come up here and sign this petition
that I will take directly to the state capitol, lest we
become the next Three Mile Island. Thank you.