Incoming Fukushima Plume to the United States

Hey Guys! This is the final blog from the Hurricane's group before round 2 :)

The article “North American scientists track incoming Fukushima plume” discusses the likeliness of the radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear energy disaster to spread to the West Coast of North America within the next two months. The radioactive plume of water has already spread to Canada. Both radioactive caesium-137 and 134 are present, however, the radioactive limits are within the safety requirements. But the effects of a nuclear disaster in Japan affecting the United States are truly astonishing. What is even more shocking and what I believe truly speaks to this weeks lecture is that the traces of radioactive plume were detected 2,000 kilometers away from the source of the incident in Japan, a significant distance. If nuclear energy incidents can affect other nations years later and thousands of miles away, then doesn’t the threat of a nuclear energy disaster outweigh the benefits of using nuclear energy? Even though nuclear energy is emission free energy, which is greatly beneficial, I believe the risk outweighs the gain. Another article we were to read for class today, by Socolow, even states that the world is not now safe for a rapid expansion of nuclear energy. Fukushima occurred in March 2011 and caused 150,000 to leave their homes due to radiation,

and the nuclear energy is expected to hit the United States waters three years later. Although it is estimated the radioactive elements in the US water will be safe, what if the levels were above the safety zone? What if our waters were now dangerous because of a Japanese decision to build a nuclear energy plant? What would the United States do? There would surely be a crisis.

I believe the article I picked today relates the “Fukushima nuclear disaster is warning to the world, says power company boss” article that was to be read for class today. The British government is planning to build a new generation of nuclear power plants and the Japanese warned the British to be prepared for the worst. But does preparing for the worst prevent other countries from being affected by Britain’s actions? The answer is no. As we discussed in class, even if there is a well-developed plan, such as the one mentioned in the article for class, including waterproof seals, we are still dealing with nuclear energy, which has the power to destroy the world we live in today. It is clearly evident that Fukushima is affecting both Canada and the United States years later. We have to keep in mind that nuclear energy remains present for a long duration and serves as a danger zone for the world population. Which brings up another question, should a country be able to build something that could potentially affect the world population if something were to go wrong? And, if countries have a problem with the building of nuclear energy power plant can they intervene within the country? Again, the answer is no. If a near by country has a serious issue with the building of the nuclear power plants, the country can voice its opinion, but as we spoke about in class, any intervention within the country impedes on the states sovereignty.

So I ask you to think about this, does the risk of a nuclear world disaster outweigh the gains of nuclear energy? Or we just take the ball and roll with it.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26329323