mar 15th, 2011 CE
It is not a question of whether or not a nuclear disaster will occur in Japan;
it is a question of when it will occur. Like the former Soviet Union after Chernobyl, Japan will become a country
suffering from radiation sickness destroying future generations, and widespread
contamination of agricultural areas will ensure a public-health disaster. Its
economy may never recover. Considering the extreme danger of major earthquakes, the many serious
safety and
waste-disposal issues, it is timely and urgent - with about half its reactors
currently shut down - for Japan to convert nuclear power plants to fossil fuels
such as natural gas. This process is less expensive than building new power
plants and, with political and other hurdles overcome, natural gas
from the huge
Siberian reserves could be piped in at relatively low cost. Several US nuclear
plants have been converted to natural gas after citizen pressure forced energy
companies to make changeovers. Commenting on this way out of the nuclear trap, Ernest Sternglass, a
renowned US
scientist who helped to stop atmospheric testing in America, notes that, ‘Most
recently the Fort St. Vrain reactor in Colorado was converted to fossil fuel,
actually natural gas, after repeated problems with the reactor. An earlier
reactor was the Zimmer Power Plant in Cincinnati, which was originally designed
as a nuclear plant but it was converted to natural gas before it began
operating. This conversion can be done on any plant at a small fraction [20-30
percent] of the cost of building a new plant. Existing turbines, transmission
facilities and land can be used.” After converting to natural gas, the Fort St. Vrain plant produced
twice as much
electricity much more efficiently and cheaply than from nuclear energy
- with no
nuclear hazard at all, of course. It is time to make the changeover
from nuclear
fuel to fossil fuels in order to save future generations and the economy of
Japan. Leuren Moret is a geoscientist who worked at the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear
Laboratory
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: sri
Date: Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 4:12 AM
Subject: Prophetic 2004 article about Japan nuclear power
To:
Sunday, May 23, 2004 Japan’s Deadly Game of Nuclear Roulette
Leuren Moret http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20040523x2.html Of all the places in all the world where no one in their right mind would build
scores of nuclear power plants, Japan would be pretty near the top of the list.
The Japanese archipelago is located on the so-called Pacific Rim of Fire, a
large active volcanic and tectonic zone ringing North and South America, Asia
and island arcs in Southeast Asia. The major earthquakes and active volcanoes
occurring there are caused by the westward movement of the Pacific tectonic
plate and other plates leading to subduction under Asia. Japansits on top of four tectonic plates, at the edge of the subduction zone,
and is in one of the most tectonically active regions of the world. It was
extreme pressures and temperatures, resulting from the violent plate movements
beneath the seafloor that created the beautiful islands and volcanoes of Japan. Nonetheless, like many countries around the world - where General Electric and
Westinghouse designs are used in 85 percent of all commercial reactors - Japan
has turned to nuclear power as a major energy source. In fact the three top
nuclear-energy countries are the United States, where the existence of 118
reactors was acknowledged by the Department of Energy in 2000, France with 72
and Japan, where 52 active reactors were cited in a December 2003 Cabinet White
Paper.
From: sri
Date: Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 4:12 AM
Subject: Prophetic 2004 article about Japan nuclear power
To:
Sunday, May 23, 2004 Japan’s Deadly Game of Nuclear Roulette
Leuren Moret http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20040523x2.html Of all the places in all the world where no one in their right mind would build
scores of nuclear power plants, Japan would be pretty near the top of the list.
The Japanese archipelago is located on the so-called Pacific Rim of Fire, a
large active volcanic and tectonic zone ringing North and South America, Asia
and island arcs in Southeast Asia. The major earthquakes and active volcanoes
occurring there are caused by the westward movement of the Pacific tectonic
plate and other plates leading to subduction under Asia. Japansits on top of four tectonic plates, at the edge of the subduction zone,
and is in one of the most tectonically active regions of the world. It was
extreme pressures and temperatures, resulting from the violent plate movements
beneath the seafloor that created the beautiful islands and volcanoes of Japan. Nonetheless, like many countries around the world - where General Electric and
Westinghouse designs are used in 85 percent of all commercial reactors - Japan
has turned to nuclear power as a major energy source. In fact the three top
nuclear-energy countries are the United States, where the existence of 118
reactors was acknowledged by the Department of Energy in 2000, France with 72
and Japan, where 52 active reactors were cited in a December 2003 Cabinet White
Paper.
It is not a question of whether or not a nuclear disaster will occur in Japan;
it is a question of when it will occur. Like the former Soviet Union after Chernobyl, Japan will become a country
suffering from radiation sickness destroying future generations, and widespread
contamination of agricultural areas will ensure a public-health disaster. Its
economy may never recover. Considering the extreme danger of major earthquakes, the many serious
safety and
waste-disposal issues, it is timely and urgent - with about half its reactors
currently shut down - for Japan to convert nuclear power plants to fossil fuels
such as natural gas. This process is less expensive than building new power
plants and, with political and other hurdles overcome, natural gas
from the huge
Siberian reserves could be piped in at relatively low cost. Several US nuclear
plants have been converted to natural gas after citizen pressure forced energy
companies to make changeovers. Commenting on this way out of the nuclear trap, Ernest Sternglass, a
renowned US
scientist who helped to stop atmospheric testing in America, notes that, ‘Most
recently the Fort St. Vrain reactor in Colorado was converted to fossil fuel,
actually natural gas, after repeated problems with the reactor. An earlier
reactor was the Zimmer Power Plant in Cincinnati, which was originally designed
as a nuclear plant but it was converted to natural gas before it began
operating. This conversion can be done on any plant at a small fraction [20-30
percent] of the cost of building a new plant. Existing turbines, transmission
facilities and land can be used.” After converting to natural gas, the Fort St. Vrain plant produced
twice as much
electricity much more efficiently and cheaply than from nuclear energy
- with no
nuclear hazard at all, of course. It is time to make the changeover
from nuclear
fuel to fossil fuels in order to save future generations and the economy of
Japan. Leuren Moret is a geoscientist who worked at the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear
Laboratory
