Japan's government state that Fukushima is on track with efforts to take control of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant but warned that the final clean-up will still be many years away.
U.S. nuclear safety regulator wants a quick and sweeping overhaul of the rules governing the nuclear power. A U.S. task force examining Fukushima, the worst nuclear accident in 25 years, recommended long-term changes for the NRC's regulations
Energy is a key condition of a nation's development. Economic growth of a nation and their industrial progress is highly dependant on adequate supply of energy. We are no longer able to rely on fossil fuels, so we really need to open our eyes and find a new source of renewable energy as renewable energy is becoming the key to addressing the energy crisis that we are certain to face in the future.
Some Countries in the world; such as Japan and US; use Nuclear Power to ensure that they can meet the high energy demands of their country. The fuel can be recycled so it can supply energy for thousands of years. However the Nuclear reactors also have high levels of radiation which could threaten the safety of human life if anything goes wrong; as seen in Japan earlier this year after they experienced a devastating earthquake and Tsunami.
There are two types of radiation that occur when there is a radiation leak. The first one is direct radiation, for example radiation that occurs when the active radiation is transmitted on the skin directly. The second is from indirect radiation. This occurs later on and is caused by contaminated food and drink that has been contaminated by water, air or other means.
The United States owned 110 nuclear reactors plants or 25.4% of the total reactor plants around the world. According to Greenpeace at www.nuclearfiles.org , The US would shut down 103 of their Nuclear Reactors before they melt down. The reason is that the 103 operating nuclear reactors in the U.S. have always posed the risk of a catastrophic accident that could cost thousands of lives and billions of dollars. The American public has, over time, become inured to this risk. After the tragedy of September 11th, Greenpeace felt that it was important to re-examine the consequences of a nuclear accident. Germany also plans to close down 19 of their nuclear reactors. The first Closure was conducted in 2002, and the last nuclear power plant is planned to be closed down in 2021. Similarly Sweden also shut down all of their nuclear power plants, 12 in total, the closures started as far back as1995.
Patrick Moore, a Greenpeace activist, declared that both consciously and sub-consciously humans are destroying the world in order to survive. People really do need to start to change their views, habits and technologies associated with energy. Today we rely heavily on non-renewable energy such as oil, gas and coal. On the other hand 40% of the world’s CO2 emissions are from coal power plants. Renewable energy is absolutely necessary for the world’s future. However looking at the incident that happened in Fukushima or Chernobyl, maybe safer forms of Renewable energy need to be considered such as Wind, Solar and Wave Energy.
