I would like to add my voice to that of other readers who recently have expressed their opposition to nuclear power generation. Ever since disaster struck the Fukushima plant, the industry cheerleaders have been in full damage-control mode, reassuring us of the safety and benefits of nuclear energy. There was even an item in The Japan Times describing healthy villagers living happily in the shadow of Chernobyl. The Ukraine and Belarus hospital wards that are full of horribly sick and deformed children are a testament to the dreadful consequences of atomic radiation.
Is it not verging on madness to invest in such a dangerously unstable technology, producing deadly waste that remains radioactive for thousands of years, that is multiplying day by day with no known way of disposing of it? (The ancient stories of Pandora and The Sorcerer's Apprentice spring to mind). And is it really necessary? If a fraction of the cost of funding the nuclear industry were invested in solar, wind, wave and other clean energy sources, we could be finally rid of this monster.
I recently entered one of those gigantic electrical appliance stores. I seemed to be the only customer, yet all the escalators were running, the ceiling solid with blazing light tubes, and all the display TVs blaring. Below, a vast bank of vending machines. It is the farmers and fishermen of Tohoku who are now paying the price for this profligate waste.