5/31/2011 | Why is the United States so obsessed with nuclear power?

Source: grist
Date: 31 May 2011 7:00 AM
by: Arne Jungjohann

This is part one in a series on the United States' nuclear obsession. After the nuclear catastrophe of Fukushima, as a German living in the U.S., I often get asked these days: What's going on in Germany with the shutdown of nuclear power plants -- is that all mass hysteria? There are good reasons why Germany is moving away so quickly from nuclear power. Certainly, fear is a factor. However, this angst in the face of a nuclear catastrophe has a rational core. Fukushima provides enough grounds to take every single nuclear power plant on the face of the Earth off-line. Regardless of whether the cause is an earthquake, a tsunami, a flood, a plane crash, a terrorist attack, or simple human error, failure of the emergency power system leads to uncontrollable consequences.

Why aren't Americans more freaked out about the possibility of a nuclear accident? Photo: Mike

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