Japan disaster may mean setback for U.S. nuclear industry [The only associated good news] [View All]

Source: Washington Post

Stymied by concerns about safety and cost, the U.S. nuclear power industry has struggled to make a comeback for decades. Now the revival may have to wait even longer, as earthquake damage to a reactor in northern Japan has again highlighted the potential hazards of going nuclear.

(snip)

Unlike past crises such as Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, which did not involve natural disasters, the problems at the plant in Japan were triggered by earthquakes, which disrupted the power supply to the reactors' cooling systems. As a result, some experts said that two plants in California that lie near fault lines - Diablo Canyon and San Onofre - could come under extra scrutiny. Both plants have been checked by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for their ability to withstand tsunamis and earthquakes.

"Just when Japan needed power most for recovering from the natural disaster, the collapse of the electrical grid system basically complicated the crisis because the nuclear power plants themselves had to shut down to mitigate the inherent radiation hazard," said Paul Gunter, director of the Reactor Oversight Project at Beyond Nuclear. "It clearly demonstrates that this technology in times of national crisis . . . cannot be relied upon when you need it the most."

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/12/AR2011031205615.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2011031100651

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We started thinking nuclear again after the great spill. Now we're going to start thinking alternative again after the great meltdown. I can't imagine being in or near Japan right now. How horrible. It's too much for me to think about.