The Reckoning

Conditions: Bloody Awful


Riding The Bomb.

Reaction to the nuclear disaster in Japan has been quick and, I fear, somewhat knee-jerky. Horror of a nuclear meltdown in the face of earthquake and tsunami has lead quickly to a shutdown of both proposed new nuclear power stations in other countries, and promises to "review" the existing ones.

Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel reacted to the disaster. All nuclear power plants in Germany would be inspected and seven of them were temporarily switched off. Stefan Mappus reacted via a press release in which he stated for the record, "Considering the events in Japan, the Federal government's decision to discontinue the prolongation of the life spans of nuclear power plants is forceful, courageous and correct." It is a late insight, for the state parliamentary election is imminent. The voters doubt the credibility of the minister president.

It was a major coincidence that a large demonstration against nuclear power was held in Baden-Württemberg of all places. The 45km-long human chain that ranged from Neckarwestheim to Stuttgart was certainly symbolic. And a lot more protests are going on in cities like Berlin. Over 100,000 people protested against nuclear power. And everyone wears yellow buttons with the slogan "nuclear power – no thanks".

- timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Now I realise the specter of an earthquake prompting a Chernobyl-style meltdown is unpleasant, but frankly the human race has got to be realistic about this. And realistically our hustling bustling energy-burning civilization is simply not sustainable on wind power or water power alone. And burning coal has been judged to be poisoning the atmosphere. Nuclear power provides a pretty great option. What is required now is not an overly-reactive withdrawal from nuclear power but a more careful consideration of how we manage it. With care, this system can work safely. Unfortunately, to be truly safe a lot of work and money is going to need to be spent.

Many Californians sought assurances that radiation escaping the Japanese reactors would not reach across the Pacific to contaminate the west coast, while experts totted up the number of US nuclear facilities on - or near - major fault lines where "worst-case'' fears mirror events unfolding in Japan.

Unsurprisingly, of the 65 reactors that fell into that category, California's San Onofre plant, 70 kilometres south-east of Long Beach, and the facility at Diablo Canyon, 100 kilometres north of Santa Barbara, were prominent, both resting on the fault-laden Pacific coast.

Both 1980s-era constructions, the plants are located within reach of significant populations. More than 9 million people live within 80 kilometres of the former, a distance noted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as particularly vulnerable in the event of mishap.

- smh.com.au/

Of course the closer the plant is to the people then the less loss you have in transmission of the power, so some better choices are going to need to be made for these locations where the cities are on active earthquake zones. Also, the plants themselves can and have been built much safer:

The fires at Fukushima have also triggered serious criticism of the plant's design. The decision to place storage tanks close to reactors has been pinpointed as a key design error. When those reactors caught fire, they quickly triggered reactions in the storage tanks which themselves caught fire, and so the fires spread.
[...]

However, Sherry defended the ageing plant – whose six reactors came on line between 1970 and 1979. "These reactors were designed in the 1960s and we have learned a lot since then. Modern plants are much safer. Think of cars in the 1960s: they didn't have crumple zones, airbags or seat belts – features we all take for granted today. It is the same with nuclear reactor design."

The Fukushima reactors, known as boiling water reactors, have active safety features – you have to do something to prevent dangerous heating, such as ensuring that the pumps are activated.

"By contrast, new reactors are designed to include 'passive' safety systems that are designed to shut down and cool fuel without the need for power being available at the plant," said Barry Marsden, professor of nuclear graphite technology at Manchester University. Modern reactors also have double or triple back-up safety systems.

- guardian.co.uk/

It seems to me that we're seeing more than a dangerous outcome of a powerful technology not under full control. We're also seeing the wielding of that power change for the better, as more and more world leaders react to the fear caused by the terrible pictures coming out of Japan. And ultimately that could be a good thing. We can't go back, but we can better appreciate what is required to continue going forward.



Film Review: White Out

Ah, thriller movies. A good thriller is like chocolate. It's bad for you in the long run, but it's oh so good in small doses. White Out is a thriller set in Antarctica, where Kate Beckinsale is the lone US Marshal at the main American scientific base. And she's got a problem because there's a killer on the loose, murdering a couple of archeologists and trying to kill her with an ice axe when she tries to investigate. Gradually the plot reveals how it's tied in to a Russian military aircraft that crashed in Antarctica 50 years earlier, and what was on it, and exactly who is involved in the killings, and why.

In reality, the fact that this film is set in Antarctica is really the only thing that sets it apart from other films. Kate does her best with the role, and Tom Skerrit is there to provide some support, but really it's all fairly standard thriller fare. You've got the time pressure provided by a big storm bearing down on the base, and a small cast of characters from whence you must figure out who is the guilty party, and a sense of claustrophobia coming from the Base Camp's narrow corridors and small rooms.

At least the film is shot fairly well, with attention paid to atmosphere and cinematography. And the lead character is given something of a back story to fully explain why she's there. Of course there's a twist, but unfortunately it's a twist that can be guessed at fairly early on in proceedings. Ultimately the film is a reasonably simple thriller film, just set in Antarctica. Two and a half fingers out of five.



- Peace out