Last updated on March 1, 2013
I can’t say I fully agree with George Monbiot on this one… he may very well be jumping to conclusions. At NPYP we are so far very cutiously optimistic and extremely tense until we get the reassuring word that “all six reactors at Fukushima Dai-ichi are now in cold shutdown”.
Still… I think we are going to see lots more of this sentiment like the one he posted in The Guardian, headlined “Why Fukushima made me stop worrying and love nuclear power“:
You will not be surprised to hear that the events in Japan have changed my view of nuclear power. You will be surprised to hear how they have changed it. As a result of the disaster at Fukushima, I am no longer nuclear-neutral. I now support the technology.
A crappy old plant with inadequate safety features was hit by a monster earthquake and a vast tsunami. The electricity supply failed, knocking out the cooling system. The reactors began to explode and melt down. The disaster exposed a familiar legacy of poor design and corner-cutting. Yet, as far as we know, no one has yet received a lethal dose of radiation.
Some greens have wildly exaggerated the dangers of radioactive pollution. For a clearer view, look at the graphic published by xkcd.com. It shows that the average total dose from the Three Mile Island disaster for someone living within 10 miles of the plant was one 625th of the maximum yearly amount permitted for US radiation workers. This, in turn, is half of the lowest one-year dose clearly linked to an increased cancer risk, which, in its turn, is one 80th of an invariably fatal exposure. I’m not proposing complacency here. I am proposing perspective.
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Famous last words?
“No nuclear power station has been built without state cash – as our government recognises. No subsidies means no nuclear. Supporting nuclear means getting behind taxpayer-funded subsidies for, in George Monbiot’s words, the “liars” who run the industry.”
Fukushima shows us the real cost of nuclear power
The economics of nuclear power don’t add up – which is even more reason to invest in renewable energy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/23/fukushima-nuclear-power-renewable-energy
What are the economics of cleaning up a failed hydro dam?
What are the economics of cleaning up the dirt after solar power which use 80 times more of this stuff per kWh than does nuclear?
What are the economics of cleaning up the dirt after wind power?
What are the economics in delaying the abolishment of that which kills at least two million people every year?
Nuclear power is a dirty and expensive form of power, yes…
…as long as you ignore all others.