As the health impact of smoking became better known to Americans, the practice eventually diminished. The cigarette industry decided to look beyond US borders. Huge amounts of money are spent convincing teenagers in the so-called "developing" world that this cancer-causing product defines their entry into adulthood.
Fast food, fast profits, and other modern gifts to the world ultimately will not health or security make. There should be no flag waving for the "Whopper" or the bacon-wrapped fried chicken known as the "Double Down". However the folly and arrogance of nuclear energy is in a league of its own.
Not one new nuclear energy plant has opened in the US since the 1979 disaster at Three Mile Island. Yet despite the environmental and security risks posed by nuclear energy facilities, the US continues to support their development elsewhere. For example, in derogation of a core bargain of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) that, with the exception of the US, China, Russia, UK, and France, only countries renouncing the development of nuclear weapons should gain the so called benefits of nuclear energy, the US government advances the economic interests of the nuclear industry by supporting nuclear energy deals with India, a country which has developed a robust nuclear arsenal and refuses to join the NPT. Not only is this folly, but it is an arrogant folly.
Nuclear energy plants, like nuclear weapons systems, do not forgive mistakes of judgment, of mechanical error, or simple human negligence. Still, in the face of dire warnings to the dangers of nuclear power, humans continue to build nuclear energy plants and nuclear weapon systems, convinced that no mistakes will be made. How easily we forget a truism when greed and the quest for power intoxicate our reason: systems are only as foolproof as the humans that create them.
The crisis in Japan is just the most recent tragedy to befall the nuclear age. There is perhaps no other country with more sophisticated nuclear facilities, with more safety checks and backup systems in place. Yet mistakes were made. Hearts all over the world reach out in sympathy for the suffering of the people of Japan. The extent of the catastrophe in Japan is not yet known, nor will it be known for quite some time, as radioactive isotopes could linger in the air, water and soil long after the reactors finally cool. However, the cost is already too dear.
Reality demonstrates that it is supreme arrogance to think that we will not make mistakes of judgment, that machines will not err or that human negligence can be avoided. In fact, only God does not make mistakes. Acting as if we were God is nothing short of blasphemy.
The tragedy in Japan is a strong and deplorable wake-up call to stop this arrogant nuclear folly. Should the warnings of nuclear weapons opponents be as crassly ignored as those from nuclear power opponents, the consequences could be unthinkable. There have already been far too many computer and human errors nearly triggering nuclear exchanges for any informed person to rest easy. President Obama has wisely advocated that the US should lead in global efforts to abolish nuclear weapons.
We are not perfect and all that we create reflects our imperfections. We thus must not make imperfect devices that can destroy so much precious life. That is wisdom that we can be proud to export.
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There is no fail safe for any of our energy sources. How did the fail safe system work for the Gulf Spill, or the Texas' refinery explosion, earthquakes or contaminated water from fracking, or TVA's coal ash pool? If you think moving to Solar or Wind will have no footprint on our environment, you are mistaken. These technologies require rare earth minerals, whose mining is very polluting, so much so that until very recently when China indicated their willingness to withhold part of its 95% of world production for internal use (and reduce their production because of how polluting extracting those minerals is), there were no rare earth mines in this country with no interest in opening new ones or reopening existing closed ones, and only one lithium mine.
It isn't about being pro-nuke to the exclusion of all others, but rather understanding that no power source is impact free, no power source is devoid of risks and then making the most informed choices we can to fuel our insatiable demand for power. Nukes will remain part of our answer for the foreseeable future, so we might as well update so we are not basing our nuclear power on 40+ year old technology.
The tsunami damaged the plant yes but despite that damage, the operators have been able to withstand crisis after crisis with no infrastructure around them. That infrastructure was destroyed when a 20-30 foot wall of water hit.
Yes it is serious and yes it requires technically trained personnel to resolve this problem.
However no one has died as of this writing and it is reaching the 72 hour point.
What is more serious and long lasting is the effect on the family members who have lost loved ones which is now in the thousands that have died due to the earthquake and tsunami. What will have more long lasting effects is the fact that the tsunami wave literally scoured the land in some places.
And its easy enough to predict the future in this case too. The combination or entrepreneurial boosterism and a gee-wiz faith in exotic science with result in more nuclear power plants. And some time in the not-too-distant future another president will be holding another press conference saying "Nobody could have foreseen this."