Sunday 13 March 2011
Threat to Japan's nuclear power stations should make us stop and think.
When I was a kid the talk was all about how nuclear energy need not be used to vaporise entire nations, a real possibility at the time it seemed, but could be used to benefit mankind. Modern, clean, "scientific" (see the white coats and high foreheads) nuclear power was going to supply all our energy needs in a brave new world of modernism and mono-rails in the sky. Chernobyl and Three Mile Island sounded a warning but then concerns about climate change gave nuclear a new lease of life. Now the vulnerability of Japan's nuclear industry in the wake of the dreadful earthquake and tsunami will give more pause for thought. Nuclear has a pretty good track record when it comes to safety. It needs to have because when it all goes tits up it does so big time.
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The arguments about the dangers of the contingent problems have largely been forgotten in the race for energy. Even Monbiot in the Guardian has advocated nuclear power above coal fired alternatives. I am from the generation that demonstrated against nuclear power; farmer mates in France once fired a home made missile at a nuclear power station under construction in eastern France and the site was shut down for a while. Where is the resistance there once was? Germany still has a massive no nuclear lobby but it appears to have fizzled out elsewhere. Has the media lost interest or has the fight evaporated? Discuss comrades!
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