All Things Nuclear
Insights on Science and Security
MARCH 13, 2011 • 1 NOTE • 0 COMMENTS
Japan’s Nuclear Crisis: Lessons for the U.S.| by Dave Lochbaum | nuclear power | nuclear power safety | Japan nuclear |
The New York Time’s online Room for Debate has posted three views on lessons for the US from the current crisis in Japan, one by Dave Lochbaum called “Disasters Fail to Follow Scripts”.
The other contributions are from Frank von Hippel, Michael W. Golay, and Michio Kaku.
"...With events still unfolding in Japan, it is impossible to be confident about the degree of the damage to the different nuclear units, nor can one know what future radioactive releases there might be...."
Nuclear energy is not the solution to any crisis - it IS a crisis.
"New anxiety about nuclear power could mean lost opportunities for reducing climate change." - Michael W. GolayI am disappointed to see this kind of statement in the mix (but expected it). In saying that, and such things as "We do know that strong regulation can enhance public safety," he thinks wrongly about nuclear power.
Regulation only lends an illusion of safety - any nuclear power plant is a terrible danger, and the cost of nukes flies way beyond what I consider to be a moral line. The true costs, from the time they start mining for the uranium to the time they end up standing there wondering what to do with all that toxic waste, are never calculated into the equation.
Even if there were no accidents, which are by the way inevitable, the development and use of nuclear power has been, is, and will probably always be a very bad idea. Really, if you think about it, its like letting children play with loaded guns - and at what cost the fun, huh?
Obama plans to spend $36 billion on nukes. That money should be spent jump-starting safe alternative energy and sophisticated energy use/conservation programs development.
Nuclear energy is not the solution to any crisis - it IS a crisis. With survival as the issue, nuclear energy threatens us as much as climate change. Any reduction in global warming achieved through the use of nukes would come at such a steep cost that such gains would come to be of little comfort.
NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW
see also: Nuclear Power Kills; here's how
UPDATE 10:00 PM MARCH 13 2200 PDT
SECOND Fukushima Explosion: Japan Nuclear Plant Rocked By Hydrogen Explosion (this blog, 3/13/11)
SEE UPDATES FOR MONDAY 3/14 AT "Fukushima updates 3/14/11"
GO TO TOP OF WHATS UP FOR CRISIS UPDATES
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