Japan and Nuclear Power

Japan is suffering through a three part disaster.  First came the earthquake, then the tsunami, and now the meltdowns of their nuclear power plants.  My heart goes out to all the people of Japan and especially those that have been directly affected by one of these three disasters.  But I can’t help but think about the issue of nuclear power.

Nuclear power is not safe.  And it never will be safe.  There is always the potential of something like this going wrong.  And when it does, thousands and perhaps millions of people are affected.

Many people like to tout nuclear power as the answer to global warming since nuclear power doesn’t produce any greenhouse gases.  But we cannot forget about the very real danger that nuclear power plants pose to people all over the world.  All it takes is one natural disaster or terrorist attack to unleash nuclear radiation over a very wide area.  Not to mention the normal operation produces waste that needs to be stored for thousands of years.  That is just the normal operation.  It is really amazing that these things have been allowed to operate at all.  But the incident in Japan really needs to give everyone pause before we say that nuclear power is the way of the future.

All from McClatchy

Is Nuclear Worth It?

Rethinking Duke Energy’s plans

Is California in Peril from its Nuke plants?

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