17/03 Learning From the Crisis in Japan

March 17, 2011
To the Editor:

Re “U.S. Sees ‘Extremely High’ Radiation Level at Plant, Focusing on Spent Fuel’s Impact” (front page, March 17):

What and whom shall we believe?

Gregory Jaczko, the chairman of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, says the fallout threat is far greater than Japan is telling its citizens.

This is not an issue that should be politicized. People’s health and welfare, perhaps their lives, are on the line, and what we need is truth, not politics! We need to know what is really happening and how great the threat is, if there is one. Louise Sheehy
Fern Park, Fla., March 17, 2011

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To the Editor:

Nuclear engineers will likely be blamed for the cascading problems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, but the fatal flaws of nuclear power in both Japan and the United States are due to factors beyond the reach of engineers:

¶The undue influence the nuclear industry exerts on regulators and elected officials.

¶Looming challenges worse than whatever worst-case scenarios are used as design thresholds.

¶Multiple units at one nuclear power facility (common practice in the United States), creating the potential for mind-boggling negative synergies — a serious problem at one unit vastly complicates management, salvage or use of the others.

Better design, construction and management will not solve the problems with nuclear power because we cannot engineer away hubris, greed, unintended consequences, fraud, human error, disasters that exceed the design parameters and the long-term challenges of radioactive waste. Jono Miller
Sarasota, Fla., March 17, 2011

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To the Editor:

Re “U.S Nuclear Push May Be in Peril” (front page, March 14):

In light of recent events in Japan, the United States needs to start taking precautions with nuclear energy. While some, like Senator Mitch McConnell, believe that “we ought not to make American and domestic policy based upon an event that happened in Japan,” what happened there could happen anywhere.

As a teenager, I would like to see the earth be here for future generations. I don’t dispute that we should be using nuclear energy as an alternative to fossil fuels, but we need to be stricter about safety regulations. A nuclear meltdown would set back the environmental progress that we have made by decades.

Senator Joseph I. Lieberman had the right idea when he suggested that we should “put the brakes on right now until we understand the ramifications of what’s happened in Japan.” Until the United States improves safety regulations for nuclear power plants, we should halt construction of new plants and relicensing of existing ones.

 Sophie Apple
Brooklyn, March 17, 2011

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To the Editor:

Re “Amid Shortages, a Surplus of Hope,” by Ryu Murakami (Op-Ed, March 17):

While I respect Mr. Murakami as a novelist of considerable talent, I was frankly disturbed by his essay. His attitude was nothing short of passivity and meek acceptance of the authorities in Japan.

The devastation there is incomprehensible, and I can well understand his and the Japanese people’s shock, despair and feelings of helplessness. My heart goes out to everyone there.

But the Japanese authorities so far have acted in an irresponsible, incompetent and destructive manner with regard to the nuclear crisis. Mr. Murakami’s resorting to hope as a way of dealing with the crisis shows an unwillingness to criticize the government or Tokyo Electric Power.

This is the typical Japanese way. Japanese culture encourages and produces followers, not leaders. More than ever before Japan needs strong leadership, and it seems there is a vacuum.

 Shirley Kaneda
New York, March 17, 2011



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