Horrified would describe my reaction to the videos coming out of Japan yesterday. Watching whole cities be washed away reminds us of how vulnerable we, as humans, really are. There are world-wide implications to the devastation in Japan that are beyond the tragic loss of human life and development in that country.
With the unrest in Libya, an oil producing member of OPEC, oil prices had been rising even though Libya is a relatively small player in the world-wide production of oil. The rise in oil prices triggered a rise in all products dependent upon oil to get to market, including food. Japan, on the other hand, is a major manufacturing nation, which uses lots of imported oil to fuel its economy. So, after yesterday’s quake, oil prices fell below $100 for the first time in a week. A major user is crippled, demand goes down; prices go down; Supply and Demand.
But what really got me thinking was the potential melt-down at some Japanese nuclear plants. Since Japan is not a resource rich nation, they have had to find alternative energy sources to power their economy. They invested a lot in nuclear power, and now they are reaping nuclear fallout. That was probably a bad pun, but steam being released into the atmosphere at one nuclear facility originally caused a 10-killometer radius to be evacuated. The radius was quickly doubled, with the potential of an ever increasing evacuation radius if operators cannot gain control of the cooling systems. And that’s not the only plant causing problems.
Given that nuclear energy is one of the alternative fuels being considered by America, these developments should provide new information about what can go wrong. The new information can be used to develop even safer plants, assuming we decide to continue down this path. With the recent approval of a new uranium mill in Colorado, we are on the front lines of the nuclear industry. We should be paying attention to all the lessons Mother Nature is shoving at us at the speed of a tsunami.
Homework
Oil Slips Below $100
Nuclear Problems In Japan
EPA Report on Uravan Superfund Site Cleanup
New Uranium Mill Approved for Colorado
With the unrest in Libya, an oil producing member of OPEC, oil prices had been rising even though Libya is a relatively small player in the world-wide production of oil. The rise in oil prices triggered a rise in all products dependent upon oil to get to market, including food. Japan, on the other hand, is a major manufacturing nation, which uses lots of imported oil to fuel its economy. So, after yesterday’s quake, oil prices fell below $100 for the first time in a week. A major user is crippled, demand goes down; prices go down; Supply and Demand.
But what really got me thinking was the potential melt-down at some Japanese nuclear plants. Since Japan is not a resource rich nation, they have had to find alternative energy sources to power their economy. They invested a lot in nuclear power, and now they are reaping nuclear fallout. That was probably a bad pun, but steam being released into the atmosphere at one nuclear facility originally caused a 10-killometer radius to be evacuated. The radius was quickly doubled, with the potential of an ever increasing evacuation radius if operators cannot gain control of the cooling systems. And that’s not the only plant causing problems.
Given that nuclear energy is one of the alternative fuels being considered by America, these developments should provide new information about what can go wrong. The new information can be used to develop even safer plants, assuming we decide to continue down this path. With the recent approval of a new uranium mill in Colorado, we are on the front lines of the nuclear industry. We should be paying attention to all the lessons Mother Nature is shoving at us at the speed of a tsunami.
Homework
Oil Slips Below $100
Nuclear Problems In Japan
EPA Report on Uravan Superfund Site Cleanup
New Uranium Mill Approved for Colorado
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