Tom Burke expresses his disgust at those who downplay the enormity of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe, and asks: is the world willing to tolerate repeat nuclear disasters? If not the answer is simple - an end to nuclear power.
An accident anywhere is an accident everywhere. It is not hard to imagine the public reaction globally to another nuclear accident on the Fukushima scale. There would be calls everywhere for reactor shut downs.
One of the more opportunistic responses to the meltdown at Fukushima was that of nuclear advocates claiming that since there were no shots of anyone dying on TV public anxiety about nuclear power was misplaced and environmentalists opposition to nuclear power unjustified.
Reducing a multidimensional energy policy issue to a body count - nuclear kills less people than coal so it’s OK - is not an argument of profound analytic integrity. On this logic no-one should make a journey by road if there is an option to fly since traffic accidents kill more people every year than aviation.
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