Japan's nuclear situation/ Have you noticed the reporting, too?

I've listened to and read quite a bit of coverage on the Japan nuclear situation in Fukushima and can't help observing that EVERY SINGLE nuclear physicist, nuclear engineer, ex-director of a nuclear power plant, and every other kind of expert in the nuclear business I have seen or heard, has said this situation is solvable and probably will be before it gets out of hand.

The ONLY people I have heard say it's a total disaster and will probably affect our West Coast and everyone is in peril, and worse, are news people reporting from over there and a far leftwinger Michael Medved had on yesterday.  It's just the oddest thing, and I really don't mean this to be political because it mustn't be.  Now, I must admit that I have a healthy fear of anything nuclear and remember my elementary school days jumping under my desk when the teacher said to, and I heard about bomb shelters and that kept me up a few nights, but the experts I have heard the last few days are rather reassuring!    The leftwing media is quite the opposite.

By the way, I know this is a little off-color but I can't help it...FUKU-SHIMA?  It seems a little odd that the nuclear power plant with that name is the troubled one :-)   What's the message?  Is Mother Earth, or someone else, complaining?

Have you, too, noticed my observation about who's more negative on this frightening scenario and who isn't?    

While you're thinking about it, please say a prayer for these devastated people;  nobody's making light of this awful situation, I just couldn't help but wonder about the difference in reportage.  Obviously, this nuclear situation is a TERRIBLE situation no matter what happens, and it goes without saying that the earthquake and tsunami truly are living nightmares and how our hearts go out to the Japanese people who've lost family, homes, businesses, etc.   Pray they'll get food, water, comfort.........and that many will find their loved ones they believe are lost. And pray for those giving aid, too.

geeeeeeZ!

Nuclear Power... too scary to continue or the wave of the future? By Mr. Z

Sweden had been a socialist leaning country for a long time. That made it only natural that decisions would be made on the basis of feelings rather than facts. Consequently, after the Three-Mile-Island incident in 1979, the Swedish government made a decision which would become a role model for other countries to follow, most prominently Germany after it got a Socialist/Green Government in the 1990’s: Sweden decided in 1980 to stop any activity in building new nuclear power plants and phase the old ones out.

Fast forward to today: Like in many other European countries, and as opposed to the trend in the U.S., the Swedes decided that they needed to revert from socialism and they elected a center-right coalition government in 2006. As part of a revision in policies, this center-right government made a landmark decision on February 5, 2009 to rescind the ban of nuclear power and to call for the construction of new reactors as old ones are phased out.

Not only has this bill the Swedish opposition and the environmentalists around the world in arms, it also brings the German government into difficulties in explaining its current official anti-nuclear course. For various reasons, it is clear that a generation of alternative energy must be advanced (the environmental nuts around Al Gore say it’s because of CO₂ generation which, as it turns out, is a completely bogus reason – others say, rightfully so, it is to become independent from energy sources in countries which don’t have our future at heart). Since most alternative energy sources have major disadvantages, a rapid conversion is not possible. Since nuclear power does not have these disadvantages, it would be the ideal source to fill in the blanks. But that goes against the feelings of the left wing nuts.

Other small and large European countries are relying more and more on nuclear power: Italy has reversed its prior decision to stop nuclear power (after it changed from a socialist to a conservative government), France has launched two new nuclear plants, Great Britain will built eight new ones. In Finland, a new nuclear plant is under construction, and other East European countries plan to put nuclear power plants back on the grid. The reasons are simple: Increasing electricity consumption, new renewable energy not sufficiently available, and the increasing power play by the Russians with the supply of gas. This dependency on Russian gas has become of similar importance and as critical as dependence on the sheiks in the Middle East.

After the demise of the leftist Schroeder government in Germany, one of the important themes of the election campaigns two years ago was the potential reversal of the stop of nuclear power implemented by the Schroeder government. Unfortunately, the Conservatives with the centrist Free Democrats could not achieve a majority in the Parliament, a government was formed in a so-called “Great Coalition” between the Socialists and Conservatives, and the reversal of the nuclear stop could not be achieved. But the Conservatives have never given up on their position, and this item will certainly be one major item in the Federal elections to be held in German in the autumn of 2009. And the reversal of position by the Swedish government will certainly not make it easy for the Socialists in Germany to maintain their position, particularly since every energy supply study in Germany shows that there will be a substantial gap between demand and supply in the future. That gap would be substantially enlarged in case of their taking the nuclear power plants off the grid, and could not possibly be compensated for by renewable energy. But then, there is this European Grid Agreement, through which Germany will be able to buy electricity from France, generated by…… nuclear power plants.

The U.S. needs to learn from this experience and build nuclear power plants – that is currently the only way to help ensure independence from ME oil; all other renewable energy sources will first have to be fully developed before they have an effect larger than the famous drop in the bucket.

A complete story including several very interesting diagrams.

By Mr. Z