Nuclear Power andIts Danger

Nuclear power'sdanger to health,safety,and even life itself can be summed up in one worD.radiation.

Nuclear radiationhas a certain mystery about it,partly because it cannot be detected by humansenses.

It can't be seen orheard,or touched,or tasted,even though it may be all around us.There are otherthings

like that.Forexample,radio waves are all around us but we can't detect them,sensethem,without a radio

receiver.Similarly,wecan't sense radioactivity without a radiation detector. But unlike common radiowaves,

nuclear radiation isnot harmless to'human beings and other living things.

At very highlevels,radiation can kill an animal or human being outright by killing massesof cells in

vital organs.Buteven the lowest level of radiation can do serious damage.There is no level ofradiation that is

comnpletely safe.Ifthe radiation does not hit anything important,the damage may not besignificant.This is

the case when only afew cells are hit,and if they are killed outright.Your body will replace thedead cells

with healthyones.But if the few cells are only damaged,and if they reproduce themselves,youmay be in

trouble.Theyreproduce themselves in a deformed way.They can grow into cancer. Sometimesthis does not

show up for manyyears.

There is anotherreason for the mystery of nuclear radiation.Serious damage can be done withoutthe

victim being awareat the time that damage occurs. A person can be irradiated and feel fine,thendie of cancer

five,ten,or twentyyears later as a result.Or a child can be born weak or liable to seriousillness as a result

of radiationabsorbed by its grandparents.

Radiation can hurtus.We must know the truth.Radiation cancause serious consequences even at the lowest level_______________.

A.when it kills afew cells

B.if it damages afew cells

C.though the damagedcells can repair themselves

D.unless the damagedcells can reproduce themselves