With Fukushima quite literally hot on everyone’s radar, nuclear power is getting a lot of attention. It’s fascinating how a major disaster has to happen before people seriously consider the ramifications of any technology. As a global species we have had a few nuclear “accidents” over the last several decades. There have been some that weren’t; by popular definition, horrible and then there were “disasters” like Chernobyl in 1986. (list here)
Chernobyl is a good example of how this technology can render a huge amount of our world effectively unusable for decades. To this day there is an exclusion zone covering 1,660 square miles. The clean up is still ongoing and the cement cap used to bury reactor #4 is eroding. While this disaster was human error, Fukushima was not. Either way, the resultant damage is deadly and long lasting.
So why do we continue to use this technology ? I’ve read several arguments from supporters on how safe it is and how cheap it is compared to fossil fuels, etc. I don’t think those financials include the decades of after-effects and impact to heath. And how safe can something that wipes out our world in the blink of an eye be? I can see how an immediate ROI looks great but if one thing happens all the benefit is lost. I still have to ask why.
With all the great minds we have constantly working on viable solutions to our ever growing energy needs, can’t they come up with something that won’t destroy us and the world we live in ?
There really isn’t anything better ? Solar, wind? Something ? It’s almost like we keep building new things to catch the road runner, and we all know how that turns out.
I implore the great minds to stop spinning cycles on nuclear tech and instead push beyond the known and find a solution that will truly benefit us all without killing us when it blows up, either by our hand or mother natures.