It's been a big week for news, it feels like as soon as an event occurs on the news something much bigger and worse wants to push it out of the headlines. First we had the carbon tax announcement (which for Australia is a big thing), next Libya decided to have a civil war, and finally Japan is now having it's worst disaster since World War 2.
I think being an engineer at heart causes me to be particularly interested in man-made distasters because we should have been clever enough to stop them! Sure the nuclear situation was a direct result of a tsunami but we should have already planned for this and have measures to prevent such problems that we are now facing.
So if you're like me and are interested in the nuclear situation in Japan then there have been some considerably good interviews on lateline over the last couple of nights that you should check out.
First there was an interview from Malcolm Grimstom (http://bit.ly/ftogNU) who is from the energy, environment and development program at Chatham House, this interview was two nights ago and so is a little out dated considering there's been another explosion since then, but he still has good insights and is worth a read or you can watch the interview from a link on the site.
And last night Dr Peter Karamoskosht (http://bit.ly/e30YyF) was on and he also spoke well about the nuclear situation in Japan, because it is more recent he has more information then the Malcolm and so has a bit more of an accurate picture of how this might turn out.
However both scientists made it quite clear that we are entering a situation with a lot of unknowns and even after 4 days it is still impossible to see how this situation will pan out. This is a huge learning curve for the scientists currently in Japan and around the world and hopefully from this disaster we can implement new safety measures that can prevent this from ever occurring again.
I highly recommend reading both transcripts to get a better view on the terrible situation currently unfolding in Japan.
My last point on this topic is about Europe's sudden change on it's view of nuclear power, because of this disaster the European Union has called an emergency meeting to debate the future of Europe's 150 odd nuclear power plants. Germany has just shut 7 of it's power plants and Switzerland has now halted 3 plants currently in the approval process as well. I think however the UK Secretary of State for Climate has it right that: "The biggest earthquake that the UK has ever suffered was back in 1931 and the Japanese earthquake I am sorry to say is 130,000 times stronger than the strongest ever recorded in the UK."
This might spark up some heated debate, but while nuclear power does have it's dangers you shouldn't be changing policy because of a natural disaster that you should never face, nuclear power to Europe is no more dangerous than it was a week ago it just feels like Europe has now entered into a state of panic and should calm down a bit.
Anyway on a lighter note here are a couple of other stories from this week that may have gone unnoticed otherwise:
Firstly the clock counting down to the London Olympics broke within the first day of it being operational which on is own is quite entertaining but the London 2012 spokesman came up with a gem of a quote: "Whilst the clock has stopped, and Omega is trying to sort it out, it does not give us additional time to stage the Games."
Secondly I was invited to a lovely party this week on facebook, however so were another 200,00 people and so they decided to cancel it. I was quite looking forward to a trip up to chatswood (Sydney) to wish Jess a happy 16th birthday but unfortunately the police will be up there now and they always seem to dampen the mood at parties... It did manage to make international news though! http://nydn.us/fN4G9k. Happy birthday Jess!
Anyway I was worried that this post might have been a short one but I think I just proved myself wrong! Hopefully you managed to come out the other side alive, and while you're trying to recover why not post a comment below and complain about my view on nuclear power or on something else that I discussed!
Petey
I didn't know you were that cut about my mocking, sorry Peter. Don't worry I won't blog about my nasty brother in law who thinks I am old.
ReplyDeleteTo be on topic, the last article I read on the Japanese power plant was: "Fukushima is a triumph for nuke power: Build more reactors now": http://j.mp/eQyUPy Since it was the last article I read, it must be right, but it is a good read that explains what happens and the (lack of) danger people are faced with.
I wouldn't have an issue if a nuclear power plant was built in (or near) Canberra.
The main reason Australia needs nuclear power is not so much for its energy requirements, but so it can develop and maintain a nuclear deterrent.
ReplyDeleteAbbott is straight out lying when he says his party has no plans for a nuclear future. Tell me he's not jonesing to be the man with his finger on "The Button".
I'm sorry but are you trying to liken the Liberal party to the Iranian government?
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, in the last post Anonymous compared the Liberal party to the Nazies... Maybe over the next 5 or 6 posts Anonymous might compare the Liberal party to something more relevant, like say, the Labour party, but I am hoping that doesn't happen before comparing them with Gaddafi and the Greens.
ReplyDeletePetey Pie,
ReplyDeleteI think the EU are right to be concerned. You need to remember that issues like this have greater implications for the European Union than they may have for other countries (in a political sense).
Sarah W.
Ps. Your blog is helping me procrastinate :)