Safety
Nuclear safety is, of course, an oxymoron. Nuclear reactors are inherently dangerous, vulnerable to accident with the potential for catastrophic consequences to health and the environment if enough radioactivity escapes. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Congressionally-mandated to protect public safety, is a blatant lapdog bowing to the financial priorities of the nuclear industry.
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An op-ed in the International Herald Tribune entitled "Fukushima in America" by Nassrine Azimi asks if the U.S. will take heed of the lessons from Japan's historic nuclear weapons and nuclear power catastrophes.
The journal Nature reports toat over 90 million people around the world live within 30 km (19 miles) of an atomic reactor. 30 km represents the current radius of the "Dead Zone" drawn around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. Of these 90 million people, 16 million are in the U.S.; over nine million each reside in China, Germany and Pakistan; more than five million reside in France, India, and Taiwan. If the radius is expanded to 75 kilometres (47 miles), the number of residents in such nuclear emergency zones increases to almost 500 million. 50 miles is the distance that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman Greg Jazcko told Congress in mid March that Americans should stay away from the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, just days into the nuclear catastrophe.
May 24, 2011