Nuclear Standoff

A major event occurred a couple weeks ago in Oregon that received little national coverage. It's not surprising, since it concerns a topic that the corporate media wants to keep under wraps. On May 21, 2006, the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant had its cooling tower successfully imploded in the largest demolition of its kind ever attempted. This plant was decommissioned thirteen years ago after a steam generator tube leaked radioactive water just a week after the third attempt to close it was defeated at the ballot box. The public was stuck with the bill in a decision that was eventually reversed in a victory for rate-payers, but only after they were tagged for the original cost and more. In fact, customers are still paying for it while the ruling is being appealed.

Nuclear power has long since reached its nadir in this country, yet the Bush administration appears hell-bent on reinvigorating it, while at the same time insisting that nations like Iran desist from all such activity. If our government truly wants disarmament, then why not suggest that Iran invest in solar and wind energy instead and offer to help implement them. We could halt our own plans to build twelve new nuclear plants in the United States due to go online in 2014 as a show of good faith. The world might stop calling us hypocrites on this issue and we would be honoring the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that we signed. No weapons can be constructed from these resources, and the power derived can be renewed indefinitely without harming the environment.

In typical fashion, the administration uses the crisis it has itself denied and exacerbated in order to achieve its goals. Pollution caused by fossil fuels and the refusal to combat it are behind the current push for nuclear power. A headlong rush backwards that they believe is progress is depriving innocent people of a chance to live in an uncontaminated world, and its being done for short-term financial gain. The argument that safer nuclear plants can be constructed ignores the essentially permanent toxic-waste problem that has never been solved. Strong condemnation of this destructive course is imperative to protect the viability of the planet. Conservation and alternative sources must be combined to ensure an equitable balance between needs and sustainability.

Both the U.S. and Great Britain have an opportunity to lead here and regain some of the respect they have lost in the last five years among the international community. However, it is unlikely that significant progress can be made while the current president and prime minister, respectively, are still in power. The world needs leaders who are willing to move beyond the previous paradigm and create a new vision consisting of constructive solutions. Failure to accomplish this will have catastrophic effects on the future of mankind, as already evidenced by the proven fact of global warming. Increasing natural disasters threaten the survival of all living things on Earth. Only by working together can we achieve the common goal of restoring the unity that peaceful co-existence with nature promises.


Sources:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/21/oregon.nukeplantimplosion.ap/

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0531-01.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0531-29.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0531-10.htm

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/photogalleries/localnews1240/1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_Nuclear_Power_Plant