Safe And Reliable Nuclear Power

President Obama on nuclear power, February 16, 2010:

Investing in nuclear energy remains a necessary step,” the president said today at the IBEW Local Headquarters in Lanham, Maryland, “What I hope is that, with this announcement, we're underscoring both our seriousness in meeting the energy challenge and our willingness to look at this challenge, not as a partisan issue , but as a matter that's far more important than politics because the choices we make will affect not just the next generation but many generations to come.”

...

“Japan and France have long invested heavily in this industry. Meanwhile, there are 56 nuclear reactors under construction around the world; 21 in China alone; six in South Korea; five in India,” the president said, “Whether it's nuclear energy or solar or wind energy, if we fail to invest in the technologies of tomorrow, then we're going to be importing those technologies instead of exporting them. We will fall behind. Jobs will be produced overseas instead of here in the United States of America. And that's not a future that I accept.”

Japan today:

TOKYO — Japanese officials struggled on Sunday to contain a quickly escalating nuclear crisis in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake and tsunami, saying they presumed that partial meltdowns had occurred at two crippled reactors, and that they were bracing for a second explosion, even as they appeared to face cooling problems at two more plants and international nuclear experts said radiation had leaked from a fourth.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said the Japanese government had declared a state of emergency at the plant with the radiation leak; that plant is about 60 miles from Sendai, a city of 1 million people in Japan’s northeast. The government did not immediately confirm the report from the I.A.E.A., which said it was not yet clear what caused the release.

Soon after that announcement, Kyodo News reported that a plant about 75 miles north of Tokyo was having cooling system problems, making it the third plant to experience such troubles.

The emergency at the plant that suffered an explosion appeared to be the worst involving a nuclear plant since the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago.

The government confirmed that radiation had escaped from the worst-hit plant, and local officials said that 22 people outside the plant showed signs of radiation exposure and about 170 other people near the plant had likely been exposed, but it was unclear if they had received dangerous doses. Early Sunday, the government said three workers were suffering full-out radiation illness.

The developments prompted the evacuation of more than 200,000 people.

On Sunday, Kumiko Fukaya, 48, who fled the area with several family members, she had been lulled into a false sense of complacency at the nearby plants, which she said had not had serious problems before. Then, on 7:30 Saturday morning, loudspeakers hung throughout her town of Tomioka blared a call for evacuation.

“The entire town was enriched by Tokyo Power,” she said, referring to the company that runs the plants, the closest of which is three miles from her home. “I thought they picked a safe and secure location. So instead of opposing the nuclear plant, I felt more security.

“Now I realize it’s a scary thing.”

It's the Obama Curse.

Offshore oil drilling is safe - except for when the platforms explode and spill millions of gallons of oil a month and wreak havoc on the environment.

Nuclear power is safe when done right - except for when an 8.9 earthquake occurs offshore that devastates a country and causes four reactors not even located near each other to melt down.

Again, just another reason to look at the neo-liberal corporate shill in the White House and realize he is simply parroting whatever his corporate owners want him to parrot.

But NEVER think he has the best interests of working and middle class people in his heart.