The Italian (and other) authorities were in a state of alert after a reported malfunction yesterday at the Slovenian nuclear power station. Nuclear energy is clean and efficient but the downside is the ever present threat of another Chernobyl. You don’t think about this kind of thing when “nuclear” happens to other people. A bit like fireworks storage – the closer you live to a store the more worried you are about legislation and this kind of thing. Here in Luxembourg we have a nuclear station as our neighbour – it is the one at Cattenom (see picture) which can be seen as you cross the border in the direction of Metz. As long as I have been here (4 years for my sins) there has only been one rumour that did not even reach Luxembourg. We were casually told that children in schools in Metz were sent back home because of some reported damage at the station – for every one else (including all of Luxembourg) no precautions.
It’s not nice to know that your future could be wiped out by some nuclear cloud or whatever form the threat may take. “Nuke-ular” Energy (as Bush loves to call it) is not as rare in Europe as one may think. Some countries have it and some countries want it. Libya got it thanks to France. Iran and Syria have not asked politely so they are suspected of wanting it for more than firing up their stoves. With the increasing price of fuel and the search for alternative energy nuclear energy seems to be posed to be a double-edged sword for many years to come.
j'accuse 
Perhaps mankind is barking up the wrong tree. Instead of searching for new sources of energy to sustain his current consumption trends, perhaps he needs to sit back and make a number of lifestyle changes. For instance: all the home appliances that have become indispensable are really not necessary. Granted, they make life easier. But the price is too high.
The blog post ““No clear” Worry” is featured on Maltamedia: The Maltese Blogosphere
– Nominate blog post of the month –
WW IV will be fought with sticks and stones.
Fair enough, but nuclear energy has come a long way since Chernobyl. It seems they don’t build them like they used to. Which, for once, is a good thing.
I know that when one mentions “nuclear incidents” Chernobyl immediately comes to mind but Chernobyl is hardly the most representative with the lower safety standards of Soviet reactors. More representative would be, say, Three Mile Island where, incidentally, adverse health effects were associated with the psychological stress news of the incident caused.