Kottasova, Ivana. “How Fukushima Changed World’s Attitudes to Nuclear Power.” CNN. Cable News Network, 12 Mar. 2014. Web. 01 Mar. 2015. <http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/12/business/nuclear-power-after-fukushima/index.html#top_of_page>.
This article talks about how the worlds view on nuclear power has changed due to the recent nuclear disaster that occurred in japan. after the japanese nuclear meltdown many of the nuclear power runned nations were stunned due to the high regulations that japan has on its plants also the effects made many countries think twice about their nuclear plants safety. Some statistics were taken to see the effects of the Fukushima incident and they found that before the accident 442 plants in 30 countries were operating and in 2012 15 reactors had closed. Although 12 reactors had closed recent studies show that there are now 435 active reactors in 31 countries and about 68 new plants are being constructed. Japan stopped it nuclear power program and are thinking of restarting, while in germany they closed 8 reactors and they are now considering changing from nuclear to renewable energy. Switzerland is following in germany’s footsteps and hopes to get rid of nuclear power by 2036. The US and France, two of the worlds biggest users of nuclear power are thinking of securing their reactors more but are not considering a change to other power sources.
I feel that this article was helpful in showing us how the worlds nuclear power was disoriented after the fukushima incident. This article also provides key statistics which help us learn more on certain countries nuclear programs. One of the most surprising things that I noticed from this article were that a few years after the incident the world was back on nuclear power with 435 reactors in 31 countries and with the undergoing construction of about 68 more reactors. This showed me how the world moved on from the nuclear incident and instead of keeping the number of reactors leveled decided to add more reactors which only means more potential problems for these countries and their counterparts.
Im glad that other plants are recognizing the risks and that there are higher safety standards to prevent another horrible disaster from occurring. Do you think using nuclear power is worth the risk?
Interesting to see how they reacted to the disaster. Do you think we should find a new source of energy or stay with nuclear?
Sounds like Fukushima hasn’t slowed down the nuclear industry too much. Just read another abstract about how expensive it’s going to be to decommission them. After following this topic all year, what do you think. Is there still a place for nuclear energy? I know you have an informed perspective at this point. Thanks for posting.