One year ago, President Obama announced that the federal government would guarantee $8 billion in new federal loans to build two nuclear reactors in Georgia. The recession-hit town of Waynesboro, Georgia was to benefit from the construction, as new jobs were created. But as Japan’s nuclear disaster continues to unfold, some of those who live near the 104 nuclear reactors scattered throughout the United States are growing nervous, while others say there’s nothing to fear. Waynesboro mayor, George Deloach says his constituents are keeping calm and remembering the upside of nuclear plants: job growth.
“We’re eighty percent agricultural,” Deloach told The Takeaway. “The farmer doesn’t have a good year every year.” Deloach says around 26 percent of Waynesboro residents are employed in nuclear energy and that he doesn’t fear any parallels to the situation in Japan.
Robert Hernan, author of “This Borrowed Earth: Lessons from the Fifteen Worst Environmental Disasters Around the World” says that although this reactor is safe from a tsunami and an earthquake, there are still risks associated with nuclear power.
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