A Case for Nuclear Energy

The disaster in Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant has reignited the world wide controversy over using nuclear power for non-military purposes. Internet videos have gone viral showing the beginning of the catastrophe in Fukushima, and almost constant updates to the unfolding story announce new fears concerning meltdown, explosions, and radiation poisoning. But are these fears based on science or something much less substantial?

So far no deaths have been attributed to the shutdown and subsequent problems at Fukushima which is still rated by the experts as having a lower potential for deaths and radiation related illnesses than did Three Mile Island nuclear accident in the United States in 1979. Many if not most headlines combine the death toll estimates of the earthquake and tsunami, which were the base cause of the explosion at Fukushima, with the casualties caused by the explosion at the nuclear facility. Because there have been no deaths or other casualties attributed to the Fukushima catastrophe, such headlines are, at best, misleading. At worst they are only fanning the fears of hundreds of thousands of Japanese, as well as populations worldwide.

Although nuclear reactors have the potential of affecting tens of thousands of people in the vicinity of nuclear power plants if accidents are not properly handled, that potential is almost dwarfed by deaths caused every year by power plants operated with fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil. In the U.S. alone, where strict emission controls are in place, it is estimated that thousands die each year from direct results of power plant pollution. Chemicals such as sulfur dioxide, sulfuric and carbonic acid, and volatile organic compounds (VOC's) are spewed from fossil fueled power plants into the air all across the U.S. on a daily basis.

The accidents in nuclear power plants make good headlines primarily because of the potential for large numbers of death somewhere down the road. The power plants fueled by coal, natural gas, and oil that spew poisons into the atmosphere on a daily basis and have already killed millions are ignored because they are considered something we have to live with in our technologically advanced societies. The triple catastrophes in Japan are horrendous and the humanitarian crisis is almost unimaginable. But, even worse than this are the catastrophes awaiting us if we don't stop crying, "Wolf" and start taming the wolf by finding safer and more dependable energy sources than are available today.

Sources:

Photo: Earthquake and Tsunami damage, Japan DigitalGlobe (www.digitalglobe.com) http://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalglobe-imagery

Background on fossil fuels: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuel