Radiation

People in America are still asking me about the situation at the Fukushima nuke plant. They are concerned that the situation remains bad. According to today's report by NHK World News, radiation levels have fallen by 80% in the past month and are at 1/10 millionth of the levels reported in March, right after the accident. Whew!

Now that we are beyond the hysteria and can look at the situation in a more rational manner, I am still concerned about nuclear power. The facts are that the plants are unsafe. They blow up (from hydrogen leaks) if the power is lost and not restored. The nuclear reaction continues to generate massive amounts of heat, enough to easily cause a dangerous melting of the nuclear material, even AFTER the nuclear reaction is shut down in an emergency. Having the plants clustered together means that one accident can prevent workers from accessing the other nearby reactors, thus potentially causing a chain of serious accidents.

In terms of economics, I question whether the actual full cost of nuclear generated power is so low. These plants receive massive government subsidies in the form of loan guarantees for construction as well as from the exemption from having to pay for liability insurance, again thanks to government. Now that there's this massive accident, the government of Japan is paying for the damages. It is my understanding that nuke plants in America, and probably around the world, are similarly exempt from having to pay for liability insurance. They don't set aside profits for self insurance either.

The truth is revealed by the situation in America. When the subsidies were withdrawn, no more nuke plants were built, going on for 35 years now. If the true cost of nuclear power was competitive, power companies would build and run the plants without any government subsidy for either the construction or ongoing operating liability.

Yes, it is true that only 1 or 2 workers were killed at Fukushima and most of the leaked radiation was dispersed over or into the ocean, mostly away from people, so long term effects on people's health is likely to be minimal. That was a matter of luck, frankly. The next accident could be at a plant where the prevailing winds blow toward a populated area. Having good luck is not a sound basis for continuing to operate nuke plants.

Solution: allow people to sue power companies for damages caused by their nuke plants. The result will be a true accounting for and payment for some sort of liability insurance. Guaranteed, the plants will either be made safer or shut down and replaced with a safer alternative if the power company's money is at stake.