Time to depart from the unethical nuclear power industry
The 22-strong ethics commission set up by chancellor Angela Merkel to debate pros and cons of nuclear energy is set to recommend that all nuclear plants be taken out from the grid within the next decade, on May 28. The draft report says, “Ditching nuclear power is necessary to rule out risks it entails. The departure from nuclear energy does not, however, mean abandoning carbon-dioxide reduction goals or suffering ‘energy poverty’.” Continue reading
Nuclear Reactors – Safe as Long as Nothing goes Wrong
nuclear reactors are perfectly safe… so long as nothing goes wrong…..
Sure, other forms of energy also create waste, but isn’t that better than passing on radioactive waste to ourfuture generations. Unless our resolve is positive and focused on the alternatives, nuclear energy will continue to haunt us as a nightmare in the guise of a dream.
We owe it to ourselves and the generations to follow.
Nuclear is Unclear
| Amar Ambani |
| Head – Research (India Private Clients), India Infoline Group |
| May 06, 2011 |
| The Japan nuclear mess is still fresh in memory and the time has come when India rethinks its nuclear energy policy and reassesses the future construction of nuclear power plants. Iam no nuclear expert but one doesn’t need intricate knowledge toacknowledge one undeniable fact – a crack in the nuclear reactors is nothing short of fatal.
What happened recently in Japan, and Chernobyl and Three MileIsland in the past, does it merit further explanation on the havoc nuclearenergy plays if leaked inadvertently. But all we see are vociferous debates theworld over – countless in number and rather hopeless in outcome. For those largely unaware of the Chernobyl reactor damage, as many as 5 lakh workers had to be deputed to control the damage and were affected by radiation. The 30 km zone is still deserted – not a trace of humanity even after 25 long years. Even the capital city of Ukraine, 100 km away from the site, had 2 million affected people. Arecent magazine article reported that in financial terms, the tragedy cost 2.5%of the Soviet GDP and many attribute Chernobyl as the prime reason for theerstwhile USSR’s downfall. There’s a joke that’s doing therounds these days – a joke that’s a harsh reality for the ill-fatedpeople struck by the tragedies – That nuclear reactors are perfectly safe… so long as nothing goes wrong….. Experts worldwide have always been recommending a diverse mix of existing renewable technologies to meet energy needs… clean, safe and renewable energy sources like wind, solar,advanced hydroelectric and certain types of biomass and geothermal energy. How(not whether) they can reliably generate as much energy as conventional fuels without emissions, destructive mining or waste should be the focal point ofdiscussion and research worldwide. Sure, other forms of energy also create waste, but isn’t that better than passing on radioactive waste to ourfuture generations. Unless our resolve is positive and focused on the alternatives, nuclear energy will continue to haunt us as a nightmare in the guise of a dream. |
Courageous battle to save Fukushima’s abandoned animals
The Hachiko Coalition is calling for the organized, and immediate evacuation of all uncontaminated domestic animals and livestock inside the exclusion zone.
Tens of thousands of concerned people have signed on to multiple petitions requesting evacuation on the Internet..
Hachiko Coalition: Animal Rescuers Defy Orders, Enter TEPCO Radiation Exclusion Zone to Rescue Starving Pets SF Gate, May 04, 2011 The Hachiko Coalition calls attention to the plight of pets left inside the evacuation zone in Japan. Continue reading
At last, attention to the irradiated animals at Fukushima
“We can’t turn a blind eye to Japan’s abandoned animals that have not received adequate food or water for more than a month and continue to receive dangerous levels of radiation.”…
Animal Attraction: IFAW convenes nuclear radiation experts for landmark animal rescue summit in Japan, by Stacy Fox, khou.com, April 29, 2011, The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW – www.ifaw.org) is organizing a gathering of radiation and animal rescue experts from the United States and Japan to discuss the current crisis and develop steps to provide aid to animals inside the evacuation zone. The team of experts will meet from May 2 -3 at the International House of Japan in Tokyo. Continue reading
Downplaying of nuclear radiation is an ethical issue
When industry, government, academics and some journalists try to calm public emotions by downplaying radiation risks, they often cause greater offense by disregarding the issue of informed consent.
…. behind the technical argument is an ethical one: I am not willing to wash down tiny amounts of radiation with great volumes of reassurance because I did not give consent…
Nuclear Power, Radioactive Fallout And The Issue Of Informed Consent, Forbes, Jeff McMahon, Apr. 28 2011 Radioactive fallout from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear accident has awakened debate about nuclear power’s invisible emissions, and familiar camps have assembled along familiar lines: Continue reading
The Faustian bargain of nuclear power
Fukushima Daiichi Is a ‘Ticking Time Bomb’ HUFFINGTON POST, 04/14/11 “…..DR. MICHIO KAKU: Well, there’s something called a Faustian bargain. Faust was this mythical figure who sold his soul to the devil for unlimited power. Now, the Japanese government has thrown the dice with a Faustian bargain. Japan has very little fossil fuel reserves, no hydroelectric power to speak of, and so they went nuclear. However, in the United States, we’re now poised, at this key juncture in history, where the government has to decide whether to go to the next generation of reactors. These are the so-called gas-cooled pebble bed reactors, which are safer than the current design, but they still melt down. The proponents of this new renaissance say that you can go out to dinner and basically have a leisurely conversation even as your reactor melts down. But it still melts. That’s the bottom line.
AMY GOODMAN: And so, what do you think should happen? Do you think nuclear power plants should be built in this country?
DR. MICHIO KAKU: I think there should be a national debate, a national debate about a potential moratorium. The American people have not been given the full truth, because, for example, right north of New York City, roughly 30 miles north of where we are right now, we have the Indian Point nuclear power plant, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has now admitted that of all the reactors prone to earthquakes, the one right next to New York City is number one on that list. And the government itself, back in 1980, estimated that property damage would be on the order of about $200 billion in case of an accident, in 1980 dollars, at the Indian Point nuclear power station…..Democracy Now!: Fukushima Daiichi Is a ‘Ticking Time Bomb’
German public, churches, oppose nuclear energy, prefer more modest lifestyle
Those in favour of ditching nuclear energy have the churches on their side too, it emerged on Sunday, when the Catholic and Protestant representatives on the Ethics Commission on Atomic Energy expressed their views.
Most Germans would sacrifice lifestyle to ditch nuclear energy – The Local, 4 April 11, A majority of Germans would sacrifice a certain level of quality of life in order to close down the country’s nuclear power stations, according to a new survey. Continue reading
The world’s nuclear priesthood faces a crisis of faith
This week the nuclear priesthood is facing a crisis of faith, as engineers in Asia’s most advanced nuclear industry struggle to contain the overheated reactor cores at Japan’s Fukushima No. 1 power plant, run by the Tokyo Electric Power Company.
Crisis of faith for nuclear brahmins, The Age, HAMISH McDONALD. March 19, 2011
Across the countries of Asia, the leaders of their nuclear industries have moved with the remote authority and mystique of brahmin or Shinto priests, intoning ancient and arcane scriptures, conducting rites and interpreting the heavens. Continue reading
Japanese nuclear workers called upon for heroic sacrifice
Disaster officials could face a grim choice: Scale back their containment efforts or allow workers to face radiation levels that could significantly increase their risk of cancer…..The actions of the power plant workers in Japan have already been described as heroic,
Japan nuclear accident poses crisis for worker safety, latimes.com, 17 march 11, Workers at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant could rapidly reach their annual radiation exposure limit and may have to be rotated out soon. Continue reading
Nuclear technology – never really safe
I used to be a believer in “safe” nuclear technology. I saw the renaissance of nuclear plants as a means to combat global warming (please restrain the hysterical giggling at this point). After Fukushima, and in reflection on the history of nuclear power plants, I have changed my mind…….the bubble of lethal radiation around Reactors 3 and 4 could make it impossible to even send workers — except on a suicide mission — to contain the damage. And even if they are successful — and we all pray they do — it seems clear that this area of Japan may be off-limits to human habitation for a very, very long time……
Japan’s Nuclear Nightmare; Is any Nuclear Plant Safe? : SF Gate, Michael Yaki , 18 March 11, Continue reading
Call for grassroots action to dismantle nuclear weapons
“We need a new paradigm of leadership – the leadership exercised by ordinary people who have decided to reject the ‘stability’ of deterrence, which rests ultimately on the threat of mutual annihilation.”
Arab World Protests Could Reignite Anti-Nuke Campaign By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Mar 7, 2011 (IPS) – The global civil society campaign for the abolition of nuclear weapons could be politically reignited by the phenomenal successes of the grassroots demonstrations in Egypt and Tunisia, shadowed closely by Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Jordan. Continue reading
Nuclear weapons are against Iran’s religious principles
Iranian minister: Islam opposes nukes 03.04.11, / Israel News Share on The development or use of nuclear weapons contradicts Iran’s religious principles and would violate the tenets of Islam, the country’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi says. “Islamic Republic authorities have reiterated that nuclear arms are against the country’s religious principals,” Salehi said in an interview with the Euronews channel in Germany said. “We have been committed to the NPT and believe that the proliferation of a nuclear bomb is against the tenets of Islam.” (Ynet) Iranian minister: Islam opposes nukes – Israel News, Ynetnews
Ethical, but very real, dilemma about nuclear power
in a nuclear context, total destruction of the target is assured and so, if one’s own annihilation is certain, is retaliation for its own sake a valid course of action?….is a reaction that wipes out the rest of humanity morally justifiable? Further, if one decides it is, what would the post-holocaust world look like and would it be worth living in for those who were not part of the original conflict?
This is just one of the dilemmas we face when considering the application of nuclear power,…..
Review: How the End Begins by Ron Rosenbaum | CultureMob, 24 Feb 2011, “………………. argues Ron Rosenbaum, author of the highly-acclaimed Explaining Hitler and The Shakespeare Wars, in his sensational new book How the End Begins: The Road to a Nuclear World War III . We are, and always have been, perilously close to nuclear war at any given time, and the threats are not just external. Glaring, to the point of grimly comical, flaws exist in our own nuclear response processes that make very real the possibility of a global inferno started by mistake. Continue reading
In the mind of a nuclear missile man
Missile training fosters an unquestioning, automation mentality. I was trained to be a cog in the machine: Orders were orders, and a lawful command from the president was not subject to debate or dissonance.
Every missileer is carefully screened for mental aptitude and stability, yet they’re evaluated for their readiness to unleash hell.
In Nuclear Silos, Death Wears a Snuggie | Danger Room | Wired.com,
- By John Noonan
- January 14, 2011
“………America and her nuclear warriors have an odd relationship. For decades, missileers (as we’re known in the military) have quietly performed their duties, custodians of a dying breed of weapon. But American citizens have no real connection with the shadowy operators who stand the old posts of the Cold War, despite the fact that they spend up to $8 billion a year to maintain our country’s nuclear deterrent. The truth is the job is an awesome responsibility, but it’s deeply weird………….. Continue reading
Secret radiation experiments on human patients in USA
American citizens who had checked into hospitals for a variety of ailments had been secretly injected with varying amounts of plutonium and other radioactive materials without their knowledge. Most patients thought it was “just another injection,” but the secret studies left enough radioactive material in the patients’ bodies to readily induce cancer………More on Human Experimentation « Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog
1 This Month
Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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