The last few days, I've been keeping a close tab on news about the Fukushima nuclear power plant. I'm not so much worried that the radiation will affect Singapore, instead I'm deeply concerned about the potential meltdown and the hundreds of thousands of people who will be affected.
At the same time, I've been praying earnestly that God will intervene and prevent a disaster from happening. I'm praying especially for the protection of the workers at the nuclear plant. Whether they are doing it voluntarily or otherwise, I still think they deserve our admiration for carrying out their duties at the risk of their health and lives, in order to try and salvage a grim situation.
But a question has been plaguing my mind. Why would any government want to be use nuclear energy, when they know that there's so much risks involved? Hasn't the Cherynobyl disaster been a good enough lesson for the rest of the world? And why would Japan, an earthquake prone country, even want to build nuclear power plants in the first place?
Then when I was searching the net to read more about nuclear energy, I was surprised to find out that the Singapore government is considering the nuclear option. As a mom, I really hope that my children and their future generations will not live in an environment where their lives will be put at unnecessary risk. If Singapore does build a nuclear power plant, I will seriously consider migrating. It's good enough reason for me to pack up and go. So perhaps the Fukushima incident comes as a timely reminder of the dangers of nuclear energy and hopefully this will stop our government from considering this option. Afterall, Singapore is such a small country. If a nuclear disaster happens, we will likely all perish.
So I hope all governments that are considering to tap on nuclear energy will discard the idea. While nuclear power may solve the energy shortage problem, the potential risks to the population and environment are simply too great to ignore.
Some relevant reads:
1. End the Nuclear Age
2. Nuclear Waste
3. Fukushima Nuclear Accident – a simple and accurate explanation -Tries to explain in simple terms what happened at the Fukushima plants. The article garnered some very interesting comments from readers, worth going through them (and I don't usually read all comments).
