he nuclear fuel cycle in all countries uses large quantities of fossil fuel at all stages - the mining and milling of uranium, the construction of the nuclear reactor and cooling towers, robotic decommissioning of the intensely radioactive reactor at the end of its 20 to 40-year operating lifetime, and transportation and long-term storage of massive quantities of radioactive waste. Contrary to the current propaganda line, nuclear power is not green and it is certainly not clean. Nuclear reactors consistently release millions of curies of radioactive isotopes into the air and water each year. These unregulated sanctioned releases occur because the industry considers certain radioactive elements to be biologically inconsequential. This is not so. These unregulated releases include the noble gases krypton, xenon and argon, which are fat-soluble and if inhaled by persons living near a nuclear reactor, are absorbed through the lungs, migrating to the fatty tissues of the body, including the abdominal fat pad and upper thighs, near the reproductive organs. These radioactive elements, which emit high-energy gamma radiation, can mutate the genes in the eggs and sperm inducing genetic disease. Tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, is another biologically significant gas, routinely emitted from nuclear reactors. Tritium combines with oxygen creating "tritiated" water. Tritium which is a soft energy beta emitter, more mutagenic than gamma radiation incorporates directly into the DNA molecule of the gene and it passes readily through the skin, lungs and digestive system where it is distributed throughout the body. The half life of tritium is 12.3 years, giving it a biologically active life of 246 years.
