Radioactive

Limiting the Fallout

Note: I apologize for writing such a lengthy blog, but it is a topic that should concern all of us. Also, I hope you have fun attempting to pronounce all the Chinese names in the article! :D

Link to Article: http://www.economist.com/news/china/21582016-rare-protest-prompts-government-scrap-plans-build-uranium-processing-plant

Last year, albeit it was a long time since the incident occurred, I finally learned of the nuclear accident in Chernobyl. The story was devastating to hear; one mishap with a nuclear reactor caused the deaths, either directly or indirectly, of thousands of people. Those that did not perish from the incident directly died due to the cancers the radiation caused, and there is also a vast amount of people who are affected by deformities also caused by radiation. I began to wonder exactly how crucial nuclear energy is if it can damage more lives than it can aid.

            The people in China also share my concern; however, their concern was prompted by the nuclear accident in 2011 at Fukushima, Japan. Citizens gathered in Jiangmen city to protest against the construction of yet another nuclear plant, one that is a uranium-processing facility. The government plans to build nuclear plants inland; they have initially built plants by the coast in order to dump waste easily if an accident were to occur. The new plants would be built by rivers, and many citizens are worried about the effects of such a construction. Waste dumped down the river can severely harm those that depend on the river’s water.

            Anti-nuclear activism is low-key at this point, but it has the possibility of changing the hearts of a myriad of people. Green activism has spread since a few current nuclear plants are improperly dumping waste. News tells us that most projects will only be temporarily postponed, despite citizens pushing officials to scrap the entire project.

            China has many plants that are planned, under construction, and in operation. I fear for the radiation that this can cause. Radioactive waste can cause cancer and deformities in people. In any nuclear accident, the consequences will be tremendous; every nuclear plant has a possible fate of ending the way the plant did in Chernobyl. The consequences brought by the accident in Chernobyl still lingers as the city is completely contaminated with radiation-it is also possible that strong winds can also carry this radiation to nearby areas. Clearly, nuclear plants are unsafe. Its chemicals are hazardous and the damages caused by it will affect us forever. Humans cannot withstand a great amount of radiation. Thus, such high levels of it are fatal to us. The radiation in Chernobyl will last 1,000 years, but some of it diluted into the air, water, and soil. We cannot protect ourselves completely from the radiation that nuclear accidents bring. We do not even know how the deformities and mutations caused by radiation will affect us. If nuclear accidents harm us in a way that cannot be reverted, since the radiation will continue to remain, then such plants should not continue to function; there will be a day where the radiation no longer affects a country or two and will affect the entire Earth.

            My eyes were opened by the events at Chernobyl as the events at Fukushima opened the eyes of the citizens of Jiangmen. I support the actions of those citizens and I hope that their passionate feelings spread and inspire others to take on a new perspective on nuclear plants. Nuclear radiation will affect us all in the long-run, so we should all lend a hand in aiding the prevention of further construction of these harmful facilities. Mankind must look to a new source of energy, one that does not have such a great capacity to do us harm. Perhaps, then, humans can advance towards a more environmentally safe future.