Do we learn from history?

Post date: Mar 12, 2012 9:38:56 AM

Yesterday marked the first anniversary of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. One of the major events from that day was of course the impact of the tsunami on the Fukishima nuclear power plant. I found one of

the more sombre images today was this picture of the current Fukishima staff. We were also told that the owners of Fukishima apologised again today for the mistakes made that meant the plant was not as safe as they hoped.

It seems very easy from New Zealand where hydro electric power provides a relatively secure and comprehensive power supply for a sparsely populated country with plenty of available water but I do wonder if the challenges around nuclear power have been minimised. The news item suggested that there is a tleast a century before it will be possible to say with certainty that the land/area around Fukishima is safe for people - and that is only if nothing else goes wrong.

I can see why some Japanese people are still protesting about any use of nuclear power.

Not sure if I have the answers - especially for the heavily populated countries.

If we don't learn from history we are destined to repeat it - I hope not in this case.