Comments on: Down the Memory Hole

By: Chervil

Chervil — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:36:58 +0000

wolfie – I had to laugh a bit at your comment to my comment, as we have exactly the same discussions at home… I know all the arguments for nuclear from a climate change perspective, although I am still not entirely convinced.

The trouble with this technology is that while “safe” as a technology, it still is prone to human error. I have looked into both Japanese and German nuclear ‘accidents’ – the Germans, from all I can tell, have been absolutely lucky that none of their accidents resulted in a major disaster. The problem, in most cases, was not lack of intelligence/knowledge by nuclear scientists, but maintenance issues and/or human error. The technology is very safe in one way, but it is also very boring to monitor, as most of the time, nothing happens – which means that those working in the facilities get bored and run the risk of not noticing when something does go wrong – which is exactly what has happened on a number of occasions in Germany. Or the technicians make a mistake when fixing something. And it can be very little things – a small leak here, a hole in a pipe there, which can, if left unrepaired, spell major disaster.

And lastly, there is the issue of nuclear waste – this stuff is simply not safe, and it remains unsafe for a very long period of time. There are only temporary storage sites so far, nobody has found a permanent nuclear waste dump yet.

And then there is the issue of public scrutiny. In both Germany and Japan, but particularly in Japan (which had a number of smaller disasters, the extent of which is hard to know) media reporting on those issues is sporadic and sometimes unreliable. In Japan, that is due to the fact that the national broadcaster NHK is more or less controlled by the government and will not report on controversial issues unless sanctioned by somebody with political influence. And, of course, the Japanese government would like to keep the nuclear weapons options available if need be, just in case, so they are not interested in the public getting disturbed about this. The private stations – if they run proper newsprograms at all – are even more severly hampered, as they rely solely on advertisement, and the Japanese energy sector is a big and important sector that no media outlet can ignore. One channel once reported something negative and immediately got threatened by Tokyo’s energy provider. So, even in “free” societies the media are very restrained in their reporting on this issue.

I am not worried about the abilities of Iranian scientists and engineers. I am more worried about the political side of the debate. I do not have the impression that Iran is a free society, and I would doubt very much that even the limited level of scrutiny possible in countries like Germany and Japan would be possible there.

By: jameshigham

jameshigham — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:05:19 +0000

Beyond bureaucratic incompetence, one wonders why it was ignored. One wonders a whole lot.

By: Wolfie

Wolfie — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:26:24 +0000

Chervil old chap. Nuclear power doesn’t give me a warm happy feeling either but when compared to peak-oil and climate change I can understand the priorities. At the time of the Chernobyl disaster Russia was economically bankrupt and corrupt to the core, it was an accident waiting to happen. Iran on the other hand is a wealthy oil-rich nation, I have personally known and worked with Iranian physicists and mathematicians at university and I can assure you that they are of the highest calibre. I don’t think we have anything to worry about – apart from the propaganda because the primary risk at the moment is the American government restricting the import of components they may need for routine maintenance.

By: Chervil

Chervil — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:42:43 +0000

I don’t particularly like nuclear in any country, I have to admit. I remember too vividly the Chernobyl desaster. A friend of mine was going out with a young Russian engineer at the time. The young man was sent to Chernobyl and never came back. I also remember friends who travelled to Poland and reported the radiation check at the border, with the geiger counter going into overdrive. And you still can’t eat mushrooms or game in Southern Germany due to remaining radio-activity – and that is hundreds of kilometres away.

And I do find nuclear technology in the hands of Iran a frightening thought. But then again – our American friends remain the only country that has ever used nuclear weapons against another country…

By: Wolfie

Wolfie — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 19:05:11 +0000

Nuclear fission facilities, like puppies are not just for Christmas they are for life and if the American government want to play international policeman they must come to the realisation that governments change and that change may not always be to their liking. The theocratic republic of Iran, for all its faults has adhered to the terms of the NPT and allowed (with a touch of intransigence) inspections by the IAEA. There is also no evidence of a weapons program.

It is quite likely they are pursuing this technology in order to reduce internal consumption, which seems to the advantage of the US. So I guess its more likely to revolve around Tehran’s reluctance to hold or trade a deliberately imploding currency, the evil bastards.

By: Colin Campbell

Colin Campbell — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 11:38:16 +0000

The Shah was a US puppet and obviously open to US companies like Bechtel building his nuclear reactors. In the end it was the North Koreans and the Russians who have built the infrastructure. No doubt there are other large corporations who have made millions being part of this development.

Tough love now that the world has changed in the mind of Dick Cheney.

By: baht at

baht at — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:41:18 +0000

To be fair on the USA the shah wasn’t a scary muslim and even if he were they weren’t scared that they might pinch all the oil AND kill yankees at the time.