Power

An estimated 180 workers are currently working like dogs to prevent a nuclear meltdown at Fukushima, and risking their lives and their futures in the process.  Firefighters were reportedly called in yesterday to put out two separate fires in the containment unit of one of the reactors.  Trace amounts of radioactive materials have been detected in the area surrounding the plant.  News reports from all outlets assert that the situation is very serious.  An earthquake and a tsunami weren't enough to put these people through?

If you're paying attention, this should hit very close to home, especially for New Yorkers.  An estimated 30% of all of our state's power comes from nuclear plants.  In the Hudson Valley, that number is far higher.  When the planes hit the twin towers people suddenly realized that Indian Point was in their backyard.  What if terrorists target the reactors?  (We learned that Indian Point was designed withstand massive impacts like from that of an airplane without risking damage to the reactors.)  Though there isn't a history of natural disasters happening near us, people are now asking, what about an earthquake?  Could we become the sequel to Fukushima?  

In fact, one of the reactors at the plant does sit on a fault line.  Did anyone know that?  That is probably the weirdest thing I've learned in weeks.  I've never even heard of earthquakes in New York, but apparently, Indian Point is considered the highest risk nuclear plant in the country in terms of earthquake potential.  It's at higher risk for earthquakes than plants near the San Andreas in California.  Just this afternoon our Governor ordered a full safety inspection and review of the plant because of this very unnerving information.  

Nuclear power is almost completely emission-less.  The tiny carbon footprint it leaves helps to mitigate the effects of global warming.  It's also cheap, and it employs a fair amount of people.  These are the arguments to keep pushing nuclear power forward in our country.  

Not so fast: let's go over a few facts.  Japan is not Haiti.  It will recover from the earthquake part within a reasonable timeframe because it has money, influence. and infrastructure.  It's not Ukraine circa 1986.  The regulations for nuclear power in Japan are not substandard or inconsistently followed.  Japan is not Haiti or Ukraine, and this is still happening.  Japan is a rich, developed country with a fully functioning democratic government.  Sound familiar?  Maybe we should try to find a way to keep the lights on that doesn't risk the spillage of toxic materials that potentially stick around for millennia (plutonium's half life can be up to 80 million years, with plenty of other isotopes taking upwards of a half-century to decay).  I'm no expert, but maybe that should be something to seriously look into.