Foreword: We must begin by praying for the people of Japan; A people who after the US nuclear bombing of the cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki, know better than anyone else what the protracted horrors nuclear contamination will bring. We must also pray that the 50 or so workers in the plant, who are likely to sacrifice their lives for the benefit of others, will succeed in reducing the severity of this appalling nuclear nightmare.
Japan is one of the most, if not the most technologically advanced nations in the world.
Also ‘highly advanced’, were the reassurances emanating from the disaster-scenario-refuseniks i.e. nuclear energy advocates – and not just from those based in Japan – who in effect were claiming: Engineering and contingency had trumped human error and the natural gargantuan planetary physical forces. The talking heads were still heard championing human endeavour some time after the massive explosion had plainly destroyed most structures around reactor #3, and as I type, The Japan Times reports “…authorities said its containment vessel may have ruptured, spewing a radioactive cloud.” But those voices will be back, confident that the passage of time affords them cover to repeat their lullaby message.
Contingency:
Contingency is of course, a necessary function, but suffers from an inescapable problem that its practicality rapidly diminishes in proportion to the magnitude of the initial ‘triggering’ event. Subsequently, and perhaps more significantly, the input of post-initial events degrade contingency plans even more, effectively causing them to collapse like a house of cards, described maybe, by what is known as the ‘Butterfly effect’ made all the more chaotic by the sequential events such as the multiple nuclear reactor failures at Fukushima, set to extract a terrible human cost as the wing-flap grows into a thunderstorm.
Today, 16th March, 5 days after the Tsunami, the BBC carries a news update that “The Japanese government has decided to accept the help of doctors from overseas as an exceptional measure to treat survivors of the devastating earthquake”. World News Australia (sbs.com.au) writes on 16th March “Millions have been left without water, electricity, fuel or enough food and hundreds of thousands more are homeless, stoically coping with freezing cold and wet conditions in the northeast.”. Even in Tokyo, food supply is dwindling. So from the point of view of the ‘predicted’ natural events like the earthquake and Tsunami (all within the sphere of sharply increasing global food prices), there is little evidence that contingency plans are successful or even in operation, and to think this wouldn’t happen outside Japan, is absurd.
Safety First – Please!
Just as medical practitioners are supposed to follow the “Firstly, do no harm” principle of the fine Hippocratic Oath, why can the same principle not apply to the nuclear industry, and indeed industry as a whole? Is such an expectation unreasonable? Why do we see a prominence of a de facto oath amounting to “do whatever you can get away with”? If the lofty Hippocratic principle was upheld, would the nuclear energy industry ever come online? Could we have prevented the withering touch of the nuclear age from worming its way into the lives of so many people?
We look for hope when disaster strikes and it’s encouraging to see a number of countries, such as Germany, seemingly initiate a reappraisal of their nuclear energy programs. Hopefully this isn’t just for show, although I suspect it is.
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U.S. President Obama, the recipient of much hope in 2009, doesn’t reciprocate. The Washington Post (15th March) headlines” “Obama defends use of nuclear energy despite calamity in Japan.“ With the aid of his indispensible teleprompter, his emotionless words to the Japanese people a few days ago were matched with an equally unmoved response to future plans for the U.S. nuclear energy industry. US broadcasting station CBS which reported in February last year: “A Quarter of U.S. Nuclear Plants (27 out of 104) Leaking” and the on going disaster in Japan are apparently meaningless, carrying no kudos with Obama. Obama is impervious – quite different from the ‘terra’ into which these nuclear substances are leaking, e.g. the carcinogen tritium, which ends up in drinking water. Water, one suspects, that will never pass Obama’s lips.
Both Japan and the U.S. sit on the infamous ‘Ring of Fire’. While earthquake prediction is precarious, Obama displays nuclear recklessness. He seems to have dismissed a Professional Paper by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), authored by Chris Goldfinger, a marine geologist at Oregon State University in Corvallis. The paper says “America’s Pacific Northwest has a 37% chance of being hit by a magnitude 8 or larger earthquake in the next 50 years” and was reported by the famous science based organization ‘Nature’. In 2008 Reuters news agency reported the USGS as saying “The question is not if but when Southern California will be hit by a major earthquake — one so damaging that it will permanently change lives and livelihoods in the region,”
A number of nuclear power plants lie near the U.S.’s Pacific rim, but who cares, it’s only safety we’re talking about here.
Environmental:
Like Chernobyl, a bewildering assortment of nuclear radioisotopes look set to shower large areas of ocean and land after a 25 year gap. Radioactive caesium and iodine were detected a number of days ago. Delving into the deeper layer of metallic tasting chocolates, we can expect to find helping of MOX (mixed oxide) containing reprocessed uranium and plutonium. This powered reactor #3 (the one with the huge explosion throwing debris many hundreds of feet straight up into the air, and showing massive damage via satellite and ground images – the reactor they aren’t really talking much about). MOX fuel may also have been present at reactor #4, where fire was located previously. The intense heat can cause nuclear fuel to burn causing plumes of radioactive smoke contaminating the air. Plutonium is the most toxic element, famed for being able to kill from a millionth of a gram. The greatest environmental casualty will probably be the great Pacific Ocean which covers almost half of the globe. While this minimizes exposure intensity to humans, the effect on oceanic life and therefore human fisheries is unmanageable in the near future. It’s likely to disperse around the world in the fullness of time. This marks the beginning of a cursed legacy. All areas of the environment are on the precipice of being seriously damaged.
Secrecy:
Reports in the mainstream corporate news do refreshingly well to relay multiple cases of suspicions held by some Japanese in relation to the honesty of those involved in its nuclear industry, the government and those managing the disaster. Even the IAEA expressed frustration at the lack of information being provided by Japanese authorities already tainted with a history of cover-ups and lies about nuclear related accidents. Not that Japan is uncharacteristic; Like chips and gravy, nuclear issues and secrecy go hand in hand, which only encourages cover-ups, incompetence, complacency and danger. There is no reason to think matters will improve. This, coupled with the general tendency not to challenge apparent centers of power or authority (a phenomenon that’s stronger in Asian – particularly peaking with Japanese culture) provides a poor operational environment for nuclear related activities in Asia – for the ordinary person I mean, for the corporations, it’s great!
Today, the UK’s Daily Telegraph has a piece based on Wikileaks cables saying Japan was warned by the IAEA more than two years ago that its nuclear power plants were not capable of withstanding powerful earthquakes. If true, that provides ample demonstration of the effects of secrecy. Oh those assurances…
Science and progress.
Personally I reject the parroted pseudo equation that development = progress = good.
Development brings with it a range of problems which are seldom addressed because they slow things down and come with a burdensome cost. It’s the same old story, money is King and the nuclear energy sector plays an enormous ‘big-money’ role. Little is said or done against it, least it means the foot lifts (slightly) from the gas pedal of the money churning juggernaut.
Modern luddites – people not willing to kiss nuclear rods – are often portrayed as ‘backwards’ and unscientific Neanderthals. Largely unpublicized, there are scientists that do oppose nuclear energy on numerous grounds. But that fact is inconvenient.
Scientists who oppose nuclear energy understand that being ‘scientific’ doesn’t necessarily mean any benefit nullifies any problems. Just because something is scientific doesn’t mean it’s compulsory to embrace and exploit it (ergo there churns the money machine). Negative aspects of science, such as the dreadfully serious issue of nuclear waste which exists in colossal amounts and cannot be destroyed (the “advanced scientific solution” is to bury it in the ground or throw it into the sea!) still doesn’t worry all those pushing dynamically and passively towards a ‘nuclear planet’, chanting that nuclear energy will help the poor and bring light to the people in the kampong (rural villages), or cure world hunger or heal the sick.
After 50 years or so hasn’t this ‘boon to humanity’ proven to be a bane? We have 1 billion people going hungry each day. “That means we need more nuclear power plants” comes the reply. Spiraling madness!
We must spend time and effort to harnessing non-lethal renewable forms of energy. One can only imagine the progress made in this area if the alternative energy sector had nearly as much money spent on it as the nuclear sector has. Not so long ago, I watched an amazing video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep4L18zOEYI which planned (and had prototyped) turning the road network into a road of solar panels. Surprisingly, solar panel use in the UK has proven to be highly successful and the efficiency of solar panels just keeps on increasing. Another energy prototype I saw utilized was the relentless pulsating wave power of the sea (which the Tsunami amply demonstrated just a few days ago), not only generating electricity on the spot, but also pumping water on land which could act as a conventional if not small scale hydroelectric dam, useable at any time.
And if we really question whether the industrialization of life is actually beneficial to the majority of the world’s people – to which I will presume for the sake of argument carries the answer ‘No’ – then we should realize this energy guzzling isn’t actually in tune with who and what we are.
And what of spirituality? Has the huge use of energy made us more spiritual people? If you need the think about that, isn’t the answer already clear?
The disaster in Japan is pushing us closer to addressing these questions, but I fear more, even greater crises, with higher levels of suffering and more prolific rates of cancer must yet occur before finally, ‘the powers that be’ address this issue with any seriousness and conviction.
In the meantime, the ordinary people of Japan are looking at a terrible scenario. One, which you would not wish on your worst enemy.
I, nay we, sit in anxious wait of news about the fallout. How many contemptuous excuses will follow? Will the quantity of excuses and subsequent torrent of ‘reassurances 2.0’ surpass the cases of radiation sickness and successive generational cancers that this multiplicitious disaster looks set to deliver?
It’s high time we bring the nuclear age to an end.
The specifics of the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant are likely to be wildly out of date when this article finally reaches print. The reader is asked to consider the broader points rather than the immediate specifics of this latest nuclear disaster.
Mr. Michael Allan is a lecturer at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UITM). He is also an EXCO member of JUST.