A Tale of Two Tragedies

The horrifying images coming out of Japan have assumed a surreal quality. Is this what apocalypse looks like? Is this what the future holds for us, this chain reaction of earthquake to tsunami to nuclear meltdown to indescribable human suffering? We pray for the victims, collect donations for them, visit local Japanese centers to hold candlelight vigils, yet our efforts seem so minuscule! No matter how hard we try to use our empathy-deepened imagination, we cannot fathom the pain of survivors still searching for their loved ones beneath debris and along windswept shore.

Concern about the safety of nuclear energy is now on everyone's mind. Is nuclear energy worth it? If we abandon it, won't our dependence on fossil fuel increase even more? We have not figured out a way to dispose of the deadly radioactive waste materials and spent fuel rods from nuclear reactors. The United States currently has 70,000 tons of it, and nowhere to put it!

Nuclear energy will never be 100% safe. If you believe exponents of nuclear energy claiming so, I have a bridge I would like to sell to you. Germany has already decided to phase away its reactorss but it is unlikely that other countries will, or can, follow suit. There is too much at stake here, political and economic. Nuclear energy is economically not competitive. A nuclear plant can cost $5 billion or more and the price of producing nuclear energy is about 30 percent higher than that of coal or gas.

Japan will learn from its experience and recover but unless we curb our voracious appetite for energy, we have to be prepared to suffer the consequences of a nuclear disaster next time a tsunami invades a coastal city.

While Japan copes with its monumental tragedy, another one is unfolding in Libya. The tyrant Gadhafi has been holding Libyans hostage for decades. When the people finally rose in revolt, he began slaughtering them with his tanks, artillery, planes and foreign mercenaries. Now that the United States, France and Britain have begun bombarding Gadhafi's forces - and not a moment too soon - the rebels have regained their hope and are counter-attacking. They will ultimately prevail but Libya is likely to go through a long period of civil unrest and bitter in-fighting. Many more Libyans will die but that seems to be the price people pay when a cruel and sociopathic dictator like Gadhafi, who made the world unsafe for democracy, falls.

Concern Over Nuclear Radiation Leak in Japan

The Devastation in Japan caused by the earthquake and the tsunami defies imagination. To the loss of lives, displacement of people and damages to property and infrastructure, the possibility of radiation leak from an explosion in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (about 150 miles north of Tokyo) has added a sinister dimension. If exposed to lethal ionizing radiation, and the Japanese have a visceral reaction to it from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the effect of this natural disaster can take decades to heal.

Of course, it is only human nature to consider the darkest possibilities in the wake of something as catastrophic as this. Japanese engineers and experts are crippling the affected nuclear reactors by flooding them with seawater to minimize any radiation leak. Japan is better off anyway without these aging reactors that sit atop the “Ring of Fire,” the earthquake hotbed along the Pacific Rim.

Dr. C. S. Karim, a nuclear physicist, explains the radiation leak: “Japan has six reactors of the Boiling Water type (BWR) at the Daiichi plant and five at Daini. Any reactor has multiple systems that can shut down nuclear chain reaction during emergencies. The technical term is SCRAM. This is what ought to happen during earthquakes and tsunamis and other extreme natural events. Unfortunately, the speed and force with which these events can occur may not allow enough time for SCRAM to go into effect. In any case, the residual heat inside the reactor core continues for days, starting from seconds after the nuclear chain reaction ceases.

“The Emergency Core Cooling System is provided to take care of cooling during this period. As a backup to electricity, which may not have been available after the tsunami, there are other procedures such as immediate injection of borated water from an accumulator. The problem arises when there is damage to the reactor cooling system. Pipes in the system may be broken due to strong vibrations from an earthquake. Then, even if there is coolant available and pumps are operating, the water may not reach the reactor core to remove the residual heat.

“Any reactor design uses a concept called ‘defense in depth,’ that is, providing multiple barriers between the source of radiation and the environment. Most of the radiation is contained in the nuclear fuel element, comprising Uranium Oxide pellets shrouded in Zircaloy cladding.

“The reactor cooling system has two loops. Heat that is carried by water from the reactor core is transferred indirectly to another cooling loop. Steam, thus produced, flows through the turbine to produce electricity. If, as the reports are suggesting, there were explosions inside the reactor, they could have been due to the loss of coolant.”

Radiation dosage is measured in rem, short for "roentgen equivalent in man." It measures the amount of radiation that produces a specific amount of damage to living issues. At Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for instance, people received a dose of rems at the instant of the explosions, then more from the surroundings and from fallout when the "mushroom" descended to earth. Doses above 100 rems can cause nausea, vomiting and headache. Doses of 300 rems can cause hair loss and more sever internal damages. 50% of people exposed to 450 rems die while 800 rems are always fatal.

We do not yet know the exact level of radiation leak in northeastern Japan, other than that some leaks have occurred. The effect may turn out to be harmless to humans and other living species. Then again, it may not. What is clear is that, as life returns to normal, the Japanese will undoubtedly question the safety of their nuclear plants and perhaps even demand that the government either close most of them or make them more fail-safe. No advances in nuclear engineering and reactor design can match the ferocious power unleashed when tectonic plates shift violently beneath our feet or beneath our oceans.

Nature's Fury Overpowers Japan

There is something ruthlessly democratic about nature's fury. Rich and poor nations alike are reduced to their knees when she strikes.

The 8.9 earthquake and the resulting tsunami has left thousands dead in Japan's coastal regions. Signs of devastation - dead bodies, stunned survivors, fire, submerged cars like toys - are coming at us from all directions.

Our complacency is shaken to the core. Everyday we hear of innovations and discoveries, the monuments to man's ingenuity, and we bask in the wonder of it all. Then a primal force overturns what we call normal. We feel the terror and sense how helpless we are.

Natural calamities are occurring with more frequency and fury these days. Global warming has unleashed extremes. Fire and ice mingle to create horror and suffering, leaving us edgy. Is it coming our way, we ask? Already the Pacific tsunami has reached coastal California. The Crescent City harbor in Northern California has been wrecked, boats battered and freeways flooded.

Everything is connected, we learn in ecology 101. They certainly are. The flutter of a butterfly's wing can spawn a gale. The ferocious energy of wind on water can travel thousands of miles to snatch a family picnicking on a sun-splashed shore.

Sometimes we lose sight of our limitations. Sometimes hubris clouds our vision and we suffer from dangerous delusions. There is a balance that underlies the cosmos. When it is disturbed, through arrogance or negligence or plain foolishness, there is a terrible price to pay. The value of humility - perhaps that is what nature has been trying to teach us all along.