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Permalink Reply by P.G. on March 15, 2011 at 4:49

I wonder if this incident in Japan will have any influence on Iran's steadfastness for nuclear power generation?

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Permalink Reply by JHH on March 17, 2011 at 8:29

Iran sits on a whole mess of fault lines.

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Permalink Reply by CypressKnees on March 15, 2011 at 7:57

The US Republicans backing nuclear power aren't about to give up th...

 

Maybe he'd like to visit the Fukushima plant today? He and his family can just eat a lot of iodine rich tofu-sure they'll be  fine.

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Permalink Reply by CypressKnees on March 15, 2011 at 10:42

Addendum- Egg on my face! Sorry if the above offended anyone.

I just read a defense of nuclear power plants in Japan-suggesting, as the California representative does, that the earthquake will reinforce the value of nuclear plants and will show which problems exist so that they can be avoided in the future.

It explains that the plants need to be close to the sea as they require such large quatities of water.

It said the mistake that was made" was a design error that assumed that the backup power generation --needed for the oderly shutdown of the reactor-was safely sited. This is a disastrous mistake but one that is very correctable at all nuclear plants around the world."

The writer also mentioned the Chernobyl incident where radiation got into the milk supply causing health problems in children. He suggests that a problem could develop in Japan with fallout going into the sea-contaminating the seafood supply.

(This was from a comment section on npr.org.)

Learn something new everyday!

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Logan Coyle on March 17, 2011 at 4:35

I don't doubt they (we) can make a safe nuclear reactor-- as witnessed by the existence of nuclear submarines since the 1950s.  The problem is in the "if".  Logan, what do you mean "if"?   I mean disasters happen, plans change, governments change, tornadoes happen, earthquakes happen, etc.  It is not so much an "if" as it is a "when".  "If" a disaster happens (that we didn't foresee or protect against fully) the damages that can be caused by escaped nuclear energy is almost immeasurable.  (If it kills one of my kids it IS immeasurable!)  The big problem is nuclear "things" last thousands of years.  We create something today--put a mechanism in place--that will be a danger for thousands of years.  Can we really plan-for and protect-against every possible risk, today?  I don't think so-- I don't believe so.  Personally, I think we are lucky to have uncovered such a violent  (and useful) calamity and not destroyed this small earth in the process.  I'm not completely convinced we really know all there is to know about "nuclear" power, yet-- or perhaps better worded-- the "power" of nuclear energy, yet.

 

Logan Coyle 

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Permalink Reply by little ole 1st grade teacher on March 17, 2011 at 8:53

Logan, I so much agree with you.  If we as people are so worried about what radiation we receive through ex-rays, the use of ex-rays at airports, etc. , then why in the world would we want a major supply of nuclear power within our country....I understand that we already have many of these power plants in the U.S..... I'm wondering how old some of these are and if they are being inspected and repaired on a regular basis.  Just like all machinery, I'm sure that there are parts that need to be constantly monitored to make sure that they are working correctly.  Not only that, natural disasters happen often and there is absolutely nothing that we can do about that.....However, we can do something about not helping to create a worse disaster, we should not set up something that only adds to the intensity of a disaster.   

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Permalink Reply by Bill R on March 17, 2011 at 9:07

Logan - also in agreement with you... and having served on board the USS James Madison SSBN627 from 1975 to 1979, I can assure you that nuclear power is a very safe and controllable renewable resource. We used to run fast scrams and shutdown, pull the rods out and slam them home, drain the pool down and fill it back up (just to monitor what happens) as training tools. The 'Dolly' was decommisioned with honor with only one real blemish on her record... we ran into a Soviet boat head-on underwater.

If the safety devices are in place, the backup system in working order and all of the other down stream redundent devices are inspected, maintained and repaired, a reactor would probably function for several lifetimes... however, when run by money hungry corporations, too many safety factors are ignored or bypassed... and problems and accidents happen.

 

Now from the other aspect of this... "Boo... just say no to nuclear power and use natural gas!"

 

****what can I say... I'm as greedy as the big corporations!!!****

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Permalink Reply by Dan Arnold on March 18, 2011 at 6:43

Really good points, everyone.

I wonder if we have seen the worst earthquake possible? Have we seen the worst storm? Do we really know when and where every volcanic eruption will occur?

I expect we could be surprised by what could happen on the earth, or what could fall out of the sky.

Where is it safe to use nuclear power? We have been doing so for less than a century and we think we have it figured out. Bill R. is completely correct, speaking from his personal experience. Eventually we will run out of places to put spent fuel rods.

I hope we develop better technology that doesn't have the potential to destroy. In the mean time we do what we have to do to keep the lights on.

 

My heart goes out to the Japanese people. This event will be a long time healing.

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