We must admit; we've been pushing off this commentary for the better part of a week now, for multiple reasons - including that the more research we did, the less we liked what we found.
In short, there is a great deal to worry about regarding the combination of natural and man-made disasters going on in Japan. Thankfully, most of what you've been hearing from the fearmongers in the media aren't the things you need concern yourself with. For example, Godzilla won't be crawling from the waste tank of one of the affected power plants any time soon.
What you SHOULD be worrying about are the reactors here in the U.S., and how vulnerable they really are. What's more, you should know that the U.S. government, for the most part, already knows how dangerous many of the nuclear facilities around the country are.
Unsurprisingly, the nuclear reactors in the U.S. that are most at risk of going through something similar to what is going on in Japan were reactors that were cheaply designed, and cheaply built. In fact, 23 reactors in the U.S. are of the same design as the reactors now failing in Japan - the G.E. Mark 1 design.
We spoke with David Lochbaum, Director of the Nuclear Safety Project for the Union of Concerned Scientists, as have many of our colleagues in the media recently. Mr. Lochbaum is an expert who continues to sound the warning that nuclear power plants in the U.S. are vulnerable, and that steps need to be taken to reduce the risks involved with nuclear power. He confirmed that our worries are more on target than the hype many media outlets are pushing, from both the left and the right.
We all understand the growing hunger for electrical power, both here in the U.S., and around the world. Neither we nor Mr. Lochbbaum - or in fact, most scientists who have thoroughly studied nuclear power - seem to think nuclear power should be completely removed as an option for future power needs.
That being said, before considering it any further, we need to take care of the disasters waiting to happen that exist in our communities already. We need to repair - or get rid of - those facilities that cannot be made substantially more secure. We need to find a proper and effective way to dispose of or reuse nuclear waste. And it's worth saying a second time that we need to do ALL of these things before we even consider any further nuclear power development.
You've heard it said by us a thousand times: anything worth doing is worth doing well. Nuclear power, in general, has not been done well at all.
The nuclear disasters going on in Japan right now could have been avoided. Better plans could have been established, better facilities built, better disaster scenarios implemented. As many have said, the reactors survived both the earthquake and the initial tsunami wave. What they did not survive was the failure of those who were supposed to be responsible, and instead chose to take higher short-term personal gain, while everyone else in society got stuck with the real tab for nuclear power mismanagement.
In the future, we doubt that will happen again.
For now, if the question is, are we are concerned about the issue of nuclear power being safe? The answer is still yes.
If the question, however, is: "Are we running out and buying iodine tablets because of what's going on in Japan?" No, we're not.
There is no magic pill any of us can take to fix the problems that stretch before us.
