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Daley: Don't Turn Away From Nuclear Power

CHICAGO (WBBM) -- Mayor Richard M. Daley says worries about nuclear plant meltdowns in Japan should not make people oppose building new nuclear power plants here in the United States.

As WBBM Newsradio 780 Political Editor Craig Dellimore, the mayor acknowledges the earthquake and tsunami in Japan caused widespread devastation and damaged some nuclear reactors.

LISTEN: Newsradio 780 Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports

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But he says that has nothing to do with the safety of nuclear power plants in the U.S., and people should not turn away from them.

"Every issue, every day there's somebody getting killed by the automobile, but we just don't shut down the highway system. It's just unfortunate more and more people get killed in automobiles," Daley said, "and so, you have to look at the safety, and you have to learn something about this immediately, because everybody's looking for alternative, clean energy. That's what you have to look at."

The mayor says the Japanese plants were built on geological fault lines, and close enough to the coast to be vulnerable to a tsunami in the wake of the quake.

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