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New Year’s cards received the year following the accident
Published on January 18 '2012 : The Denki shinbun(The Electric Daily News)

Dr. Michio Ishikawa
Chief Adviser(Former President & CEO)
Japan Nuclear Technology Institute(JANTI)

The New Year’s cards I received this year, reminiscent of the nuclear accident of last year, fell into two categories: those that spoke of the commitment to safety and those that spoke of the electric energy problem.

The former were sent from people in the nuclear energy field and written in a tone of sincere reflection. The latter were from various friends and acquaintances who were worried about the energy problems caused by the collapse of nuclear power and depressed about Japan’s future.

Many of them felt a sense of discomfort from the funeral dirge sung by the mass media for nuclear power and are depressed about the general mood to shift from nuclear power. They feel that the energy problem is the most important issue facing people's lives and are looking to me for answers.

Energy problems are like food supply problems. This is because they are measured in the same way, and physically speaking, they are both the same. The kilowatt hours used for electricity can be converted into calories for food. It is the same principle that lies behind currency, which enables the conversion between yen and dollars.

The people of my generation are very sensitive to food shortage crises because we grew up at a time when food was scarce during and after World War II. Having experienced days of not knowing whether or not we would be able to eat, the collapse of nuclear power makes us remember the food shortage crisis and worry about Japan's future. Our tragic life experiences make us feel these instincts, which I think are correct.

People overseas are feeling similarly. This is why nations in Asia that are struggling with increasing populations, and the Middle-Eastern oil-producing nations that have freed themselves from poverty brought about from desert environment, are motivated to purchase Japanese nuclear power stations.

Vietnam, Turkey, India, and Saudi Arabia are all looking to build their nations to be dependent on Japanese-built nuclear power stations. They want to secure a stable energy source.

The interest in Japanese-built nuclear power stations, which are said to be the most expensive in the world, comes from the faith in their safety. This faith wavered immediately after the accident, but it seems to have started to recover recently.

On March 21st, soon after the disaster, “The Guardian” of the UK stated, “While faced with a natural disaster that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people, fatal radiation was not leaked. I have become a supporter of nuclear power.”

The common mindset of this article once again started to grow in the leaders of other countries as the accident calmed down.

The accident at Fukushima differs from Chernobyl in that the range of contamination was smaller and no fatalities occurred. Even though power was lost, the safety equipment that runs on decay heat worked as designed to continue reactor cooling. The containment vessels withstood the hydrogen explosions and still continue to prevent the dispersion of radiation to this day. Light water reactors are very safe.

People are starting to hypothesize that if we had reinforced our emergency power source equipment, like they have done in the United States, there might not have been a core meltdown at Fukushima.

In April of last year, when a tornado struck the state of Alabama, the Browns Ferry nuclear power station was cut off from external power for four days but was able to achieve cold shutdown because its emergency power equipment was reinforced as an antiterrorism measure.

The point of view now is that the safety of light water reactors can be taken at face value; the accident at Fukushima resulted from problems with its disaster control measures. The accident is now starting to be evaluated by the world with cool heads.

The continuing desire of foreign nations to purchase Japanese nuclear power stations is proof of this. However, while such countries are turning to Japan, the public opinion in Japan is far from calm and collected. The Japanese people’s view towards nuclear power is the complete opposite of that of people abroad.

Opposing opinions say that we should not export nuclear power stations that are not going to be used in Japan. Prime Minister Noda is standing firmly behind the belief that we should export Japan’s superior technology overseas, but behind closed doors the mood is more somber. Nuclear power in Japan is can be related to psychosomatic disorder.

Psychosomatic disorder is an obstinate disease that must be treated with patience. If solving electricity supply issues, which is an internal matter, is compared to a mental problem, then exporting nuclear power stations is a method for preserving physical stamina. Since they are both major issues for Japan, we should continue to treat them as slowly as the government will allow while carefully examining them. The hasty administration of drugs could turn toxic at times.

The starving children of long ago that turned a defeated nation into an economic superpower are now conveying through New Year’s cards their fear of the decay of the nation due to the collapse of nuclear power. What prescriptions will the young generation of Japan that grew up with peace and an abundance of food come up with for this psychosomatic disorder? This is what will determine Japan’s success or failure.

  (End)

 

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