With the recent earthquake and consequent tsunami in Japan, then with nuclear plants exploding there has been little rest in Japan. In a CNN article on Japan it may be that a reactor core is leaking its radioactive contents. This is very worrisome not only for the Japanese but for those who import their crops. If Japanese water and food have Iodine-131 and Cesium-137 (the radioactive elements) then everything else might too. Not only that but some of the Iodine-131 and Cesium-137 has reached Colorado and Oregon but "thus far -- 'are far below levels of concern'" (http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/23/colorado.oregon.radiation/index.html).
However I think this begs the question that, if Japan is such a small island and is prone to earthquakes and tsunamis, why did they build nuclear plants? When dealing with highly radioactive material you can't take the conventional means of building a strong plant/storage unit and say "that's good enough" because something will eventually knock it down or damage it in some way. With radioactive elements good, probably isn't good enough.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think that you are giving nuclear plants and Japan way too little credit. The fact of the matter is that the US has many nuclear power plants (at least 23)built exactly like Japan. There has never been a radioactive problem due to an earthquake/tsunami before so how would they know that it could happen beforehand? However I do think that they should have had a backup plan to cool the towers which most of the United States plants do. You ask why they built nuclear power plants but the real question is why wouldn't they?
ReplyDeleteNuclear power plants:
-per terawatt of energy produced, hydroelectric power kills 885, coal kills 342, natural gas kills 85, but nuclear kills only 8.
-its an extremely reliable source of power because most nuclear reactors have a life cycle of at least 40 years
-Fossil fuel pollution kills over 10,000 in the United States per year due to respiratory problems. But nuclear plants are emissions-free, and 95% of spent fuel can be reprocessed
-The source of nuclear power is uranium and this is available in abundance in the crust of the Earth. Therefore since the source of nuclear power is readily available now and also for centuries to come, this form of power is virtually inexhaustible.
Sources:http://www.cnbc.com/id/42252740 and http://www.nei.org/keyissues/protectingtheenvironment/cleanair/
Alex and Olivia,
ReplyDeleteBoth valid points. Even though Japan is small geographically, it obviously is powerful given that its products are sought around the world. Nuclear power is very effective, but it obviously has it draw backs. There is no way to argue whether or not this could have been prevented; hypotheticals are just that: hypothetical. Thanks for the interesting post.