“Better to light a candle than curse the radiation.”
— Me, about 30 years ago.

I haven’t been a fan of nuclear power for a very long time, but it’s still kind of obvious that my opinion on the matter don’t count for squat. I still think I’m right, though. Nuclear anything just seems like a really bad idea, and I’d like to think I’m on the right side of the fence on this one, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to win the argument. I’m reading too many letters and editorials in the newspaper these days about how nuclear power is still the right choice, about how it’s still “clean and green”. WHAT? Have you no shame? Apparently not if you’re trying to sell nuclear power. Your soul gets dumped on Craigslist pretty quickly when you go that route.

And let me say this right here: I really thought the Japanese knew better. I honestly thought they were all about the long game, about short-term sacrifice for the long-term good. I remember when the Japanese people would vigorously protest the arrival of any U.S. nuclear powered (or nuclear armed) ship that might consider stopping by. Not no more. I am disappointed. I thought they were better than this. I know they are better than this.

As we watch the world’s supply of oil dwindle, nuclear power is going to be all shined up and prettied up and offered as a fine solution to less oil and natural gas in the years ahead. Let’s ignore, for the moment, the fact that nuclear power is based on a natural non-renewable energy resource, just like oil and natural gas; and that it, too, will be depleted over time. That short term view should not be our first concern, or our primary fear.

The first order of business with nuclear power is how overwhelmingly deadly it is, and how very long it remains deadly, long after it is no longer useful as a power source. We are talking hundreds of thousands of years here. Longer than all human recorded history. So long, I’m not even going to make a joke about how long that is. We have absolutely no track record for taking care of anything on that time frame. None. And yet we are expected to believe that we can process this stuff, use it and then store it — for how long? No. We can’t. If for no other reason than no human language has ever lasted that long. In one hundred thousand years, our warning signs will be unreadable. If there’s anyone left to read them.

I have no idea how we are going to stop the coming enthusiasm for nuclear power. I honestly do not believe that the problems in Japan right now will have a long-term negative effect on the future of nuclear power. We, as a species, have notoriously short memories. And apparently writing stuff down doesn’t help.

Good luck, Japan. Good luck, all of us.