What a legacy we are leaving our children

I, like everyone else, have watched with alarm the unfolding disaster in Japan following the Earthquake and Tidal Wave at the Nuclear Plant. However, I was left confused by the claims that were being made by the authorities regarding safety. Was it simply a case of incompetence or a cover up? Well it looks like there was and has been a decent measure of both.

Here in Britain we know about that, as we have seen a series of accidents within the Nuclear Industry from back in the 1950s and onwards where the seriousness was never fully admitted at the time. The other two serious incidents, Three Mile Island and Chernobyl were equally serious and it was only the design of the safety systems at Three Mile Island that prevented it being as devastating as Chernobyl was.

Even before this disaster in Japan, I was thinking of posting about the Nuclear Industry, especially in relations to de-carbonising the energy system. Further, here in Britain we are still feeling the effects of Chernobyl as there are still locations where the sheep farmers can not sell the lambs that are farmed because of contamination from Chernobyl. It was while researching this that I discovered that there is now published research that shows that the brains of wildlife within the exclusion zone around Chernobyl are smaller.

Before I move on to the events in Japan, the defenders of the Nuclear Industry, often say that we are all subject to some “natural” radioactivity from the environment anyway. While this is true, and a sense of proportion is needed, equally no one rational would willingly and recklessly expose themselves to life damaging pollution. So while explaining the real risks are important and keeping a sense of proportion are important, the defenders of the Nuclear Industry often play down the risks. They make it easier for governments and authorities to down play the effects of a disaster.

When I woke up to the news of the Earthquake and Tsunami my initial thoughts were with the victims. While there was also mention of the problems and “Slight Damage” at a nuclear power station, the first reports made it sound as though all the safety systems had worked. However, as we all now know, the cooling systems were knocked out. Even when it was admitted that the problems were more serious than first admitted, the media reports were saying that Buildings, the reactor and containment were all undamaged.

I knew that if, as was also being reported, the fuel was no longer covered by water, there had to be a leak of that water.

As the reactor is a hot steam design, when I tried to get answers to the questions and concerns I had from people here in the UK, my concerns were dismissed. I was told I did not know what I was talking about. But as was trying to improve my understanding, I persisted. Events actually showed that my concerns were not unfounded. As the fuel pellets are enclosed within tubes of Zirconium, these are the fuel rods, and in steam, Zirconium reacts to produce Hydrogen in an exothermic reaction, heat producing. The Hydrogen explosions showed that even with my basic knowledge my concerns were not unfounded.

In addition to this was the delays in getting the power reconnected to the cooling systems. While would have been damage from the earthquake, tsunami and hydrogen explosions only radioactivity leaks via the cooling water could explain why it took so long to reconnect the power.

As soon as the power was connected there were radiation leaks into the sea that were a million times higher than normal background levels.

The simple point is that the authorities just were not honest or open about what had really happened. Had they been, perhaps people with knowledge and experience could have helped to resolve the problems and made the reactors safer sooner.

Not that Nuclear power is ever going to be safe. Trying to look on the bright side, perhaps the public reaction will make it far harder for anyone to build new Nuclear Generation within a democracy now.

As no matter what safety systems are put onto Nuclear power, there will always be something that Nature throws at us that will knock those systems out.

Even with the current nuclear power generation sites, there will be a serious problem with decommissioning, safety and costs for generations to come. Our children will have some serious problems to deal with for the next couple of centuries.

What a legacy we are leaving our children.