Departments



Articles

Less

Editorial: Endangered Species -- May We Ask Why?
May 2nd, 2007

Editorial: Editorial: a Free Press
April 21st, 2007

Editorial: Airboat Noise
April 7th, 2007

Editorial: Another Delay in Dock Repair
March 5th, 2007

Editorial: Are Some Technological Wonders Economically Impractical?
February 27th, 2007

Editorial: Editorial: Weakest Tax Link Examined
December 22nd, 2006

Editorial: A New Year`s Resolution -- For the Levy County Commission
December 10th, 2006

Editorial: Political Tides
November 17th, 2006

Editorial: Blue Pencil Needed on Levy County Budget
October 30th, 2006

Editorial: Fiscal Incompetence?
October 2nd, 2006

Editorial: Paddlers May Get Hit in Pocket
September 18th, 2006

Editorial: Time for Another Cedar Key Tea Party?
August 30th, 2006

Editorial: Automotive Turning Point
August 11th, 2006

Editorial: Are There Limits to Southern Hospitality?
July 24th, 2006

Editorial: Armadillos and Anthros
July 9th, 2006

More

Editorial: "The Most Unforgiving Technology in Human History"

Editorial: "The Most Unforgiving Technology in Human History"

Editor

The full dimensions of the Japanese nuclear disaster will not be known for many years. Individuals exposed to extreme radiation can suffer for days, weeks or years. Genetic damage is passed on for following generations. Thyroid cancers rates in children will go up.


Economic damage to Tokyo Electric, its shareholders and rate-payers will come to billions of dollars. Mr. Yukio Edano, Chief Cabinet Secretary of the Japanese government said, "If measures can be taken, we will be able to ensure the safety of the reactor." He seemed to be most concerned about Tokyo Electric`s reactor rather than the safety of the Japanese people.


The U.S. government has subsidized the nuclear industry with tax-payers` dollars for more than sixty years. Bankers, contrary to their enthusiasm for risky home loans, have shied away from loans for nuclear reactors. Accidents like Three Mile Island and the Tokyo Electric disaster, and the unknown cost of decommissioning old reactors no doubt are factors in the banking decisions.


Beyond the economic problems facing the nuclear industry are the following:

1. Radioactive waste disposal unsolved
2. Cost of security against terrorists
3. Trial-and Error reactor design
4. Need of evacuation when disasters strike
5. Overcrowded waste fuel pools
6. An abysmal record of waste storage for 60 years at Hanford, WA
7. Industry representatives dominating the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
8. Ineffective government (NRC) regulation


Design flaws (Chernobyl), human error (Three Mile Island) and tsunami s (Fukushima) are different caused of disasters. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission can influence reactor design, worker training and location of nuclear plants. Let`s hope it starts doing a better job than it has in past years. Of six of the plants designed by the builders of the Crystal River nuclear plant, four have had serious problems. (A fifteen foot long crack in the containment vessel has kept the plant at Crystal River shut down and unproductive for nineteen months.)


Nuclear plant workers, even if well trained, are caught between corporate managers that look at the bottom line and the safest action when disaster hits the plant. The decision to flood a plant with corrosive sea water becomes an economic decision that could be called human error.


Nuclear plants are placed near large sources of cooling water such as rivers and oceans, and near cities like New York City and Miami. Earthquakes, hurricanes and evacuation bottlenecks make past plant site decisions look dangerous.


If we want another nuclear plan within twenty-five miles of Cedar Key, are we ready to count on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to protect us?

Click for printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend

 

 

© 2013
Cedar Key News

cedarkeynews@gmail.com