Nuclear energy, Damar Hamlin, electric school buses, and Ukraine

Bills players and staff pray for Damar Hamlin during the first quarter of a game against the Bengals last Monday in Cincinnati. Credit: AP/Joshua A. Bickel
Ignoring nuclear energy big mistake
Lisa Tyson’s op-ed illustrates that a smart person can manipulate facts and history and be so very wrong [“No role for nuclear in our future energy mix,” Opinion, Dec. 27].
Citing the Chernobyl nuclear plant as an example of nuclear energy’s dangers is a case in point. Zero Chernobyl-style plants are being used in our country. It used a decades-old technology that was employed by the military here and was dismantled long ago. Nuclear plants have a remarkable safety record.
Modern small plants are being built in Europe with proven technology. They are efficient and safe and can be built quickly. A fact not mentioned is that there is no such thing as clean energy.
Wind and solar energy depend on battery storage. Those large batteries require tons of mined rare-earth metals. This process is both expensive and environmentally questionable. We need multiple sources of electricity to power modern living.
To disregard a dependable source of power is a big mistake.
— Roy Sperrazza, Northport
The op-ed is not close to being accurate about today’s nuclear energy. It is not only 90% renewable, with no harmful digging into the earth, it is also clean and dependable. To compare today’s plants to yesterday’s — Chernobyl and Shoreham — is misguided.
The nuclear energy of today has come out with small modular reactors (SMRs), which are grouped together and can produce more energy than any wind farm or solar farm. Let’s stop all the past hysteria of past reactors and move forward into the new nuclear age of SMRs, and the world will see how reliable they are.
— Ed Mellina, Garden City
The op-ed is a form of fearmongering. The group that led to shutting the Shoreham nuclear plant created a huge boondoggle, which we are still paying off. Nuclear power is a green, clean energy — one of the largest ever produced.
Most of our Navy operates under nuclear power. This attitude has set us back by decades from using clean electric power. The writer cites Chernobyl, and yes, it was a reactor with a poor design. Don’t blame the process, though — blame the design.
Nuclear energy is always changing for the better with better design, better support equipment and better uses.
— Roy Willis, Massapequa
What if Hamlin was hurt in Super Bowl?
I’m glad that the “NFL’s medical game plan saved Hamlin” [Sports, Jan. 5], but before we give the league a “humanitarian” award, I’d like to make the following points:
The old 12-games-per-season National Football League cares so much about its players’ safety that it recently added a 17th game to the regular season. And, of course, the NFL routinely makes many teams play games on Thursdays — while their bodies are still recovering from Sunday’s physical traumas.
And, if this same Damar Hamlin tragedy had occurred during the first quarter of this year’s Super Bowl, how many fans believe the game would have been suspended? And how many would have wanted it suspended after Hamlin’s broken body had been taken off the field and was out of sight?
Hard questions, but pro football’s a hard “sport.”
— Richard Siegelman, Plainview
The next time a politician, the mainstream media, or institution of higher learning lectures the American people about how racist we are, let’s remember the outpouring of love and support given to the Buffalo Bills’ Damar Hamlin after his tragic injury.
People of all creeds, religions and races have prayed for and shown love for this young black man. Regardless of what we are told by many in this country, we are exceptional. We are America.
— Peter Boeko, Manorville
Electric buses a win for schoolchildren
Despite last-ditch efforts of the Empire Center for Public Policy to cast shade on electric school buses, its adoption by 2035 is a matter of state law “Suffolk approves funds for 12 electric buses,” News, Dec. 21].
By 2027, no more diesel buses can be sold in New York. Schoolkids will no longer be subject to asthma-triggering diesel bus fumes, saving health care costs. Suffolk’s adoption of electric school buses, supported by state, federal and county funds, is proactive and smart, a win for schoolchildren and the environment.
— Grace Mok, Jericho
Collateral damage suffered by Russia
It’s not just the senseless slaughter of the Ukrainian people but also the impact on everyone else — wives and children of Russian soldiers, the people of Russia, and its athletes who are banned all over the world [“Russia shaken by strikes,” World, Jan. 4].
The Russian people need to unite underground, organize and overthrow the government.
— Charley Frey, West Babylon
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