In the wake of the partial (so far as we know) meltdown at three nuclear reactors in Fukushima, Japan, there is talk in the media, of a resurgence of alleged “debate” over nuclear energy. Predictably, slick supporters of the nuclear industry have already started pointing out that Japan represents an unusual case – one of the most intense quakes in world history and tsunamis. Some such supporters are even attempting to turn this growing tragedy into an advantage by claiming that despite the intensity of the quakes and tsunamis, the very fact that there is no immediate total meltdown yet, should be taken as confirmation of the overall safety of nuclear reactors in general. They also point out that the Fukushima reactors are over forty years old - presumably the the designs of the new reactors render them destruction proof.
However, the fact remains that even under conditions of “normal” operations, nuclear reactors represent unmitigated risk. Indeed, as long as the issue of the safe disposal of nuclear waste is resolved – and it is hard to see how this issue could ever be addressed – any nuclear reactor, whether functioning normally or malfunctioning, is literally a proverbial dead end. Conventional wisdom would have it that in Japan there is a consensus among the citizens over the “value” of nuclear reactors. Not so. There are many grass-roots organizations that have over the years contested – without much success of course – the proliferation of nuclear reactors in Japan. One of the more prominent anti-nuclear organizations is the Citizens Nuclear Information Centre (http://www.cnic.jp/english/) based in Tokyo. Just last January, five activists went on a hunger strike to protest the building of a new nuclear reactor – the Kaminoseki Power Plant in Yamguchi prefecture http://www.panorientnews.com/en/news.php?k=716 There are more than 55 active nuclear power plants in Japan and many more facilities that help in the processing of nuclear material for the plants. It is one of those ironies of history that after the two atomic bombs that devastated Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the country is yet again affected by the same technology.
Meanwhile, according to some of the live blogs/tweets on the BBC website (14th March, 2011):
• 2001: A senior nuclear industry executive has told the New York Times that Japanese nuclear power industry managers are "basically in a full-scale panic". The executive is not involved in managing the response to the reactors' difficulties but has many contacts in Japan. "They're in total disarray, they don't know what to do," the executive added.
1844: Mikan in Tokyo writes: "There is a growing sense that the Japanese government is not telling us the true story. On one end, there is the Japanese media that plays down the nuclear drama and focuses on human drama, and at the other, the foreign media is up-playing the nuclear disaster. In my company I heard at least half the essential staff is being sent to Hong Kong, Singapore or even Sydney. I am preparing to leave Tokyo and/or Japan. So are many of my friends. There is a sense of deserting Tokyo as soon as possible.
• 2022: A Russian diplomatic source has told the Interfax news agency that Moscow is "awaiting trustworthy information regarding the situation at Japanese nuclear power plants" from the authorities in Tokyo. The source said Russian officials had not ruled out that the Japanese were playing down the possible threat for fear of causing panic among members of the public. Moscow planned to send seismologists to Japan to assess the situation on the ground so it could be "a thousand times more sure that everything is safe", the source added.
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