Can nuclear power production be kept safe from natural disasters?
Regardless of our best laid plans, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis and other irrepressible natural forces will inevitably strike some nuclear power sites. Just this month a tornado forced the shutdown of the Fermi2 atomic reactor in Michigan, the site of a 1966 melt-down that nearly irradiated the entire Great Lakes region. We need to ask ourselves, is it possible to manage the risk posed by natural disaster? 4. Can nuclear power sites be terrorist-proof? Al Qaeda has repeatedly expressed its intent to launch nuclear attacks on American soil. Pakistan’s nuclear facilities have been attacked three times since 2007. South Africa’s Pelindaba nuclear site was breached by gunman in 2007. According to Warren Buffet, concerned over his major stake in the insurance industry, a nuclear terrorist strike is matter not if, but when: We’re going to have something in the way of a major nuclear [terrorist] event in this country. It will happen. Whether it will happen in 10 years or 10 minutes, or 50
