Nuclear medicine/reactors
Dec. 29th, 2007 09:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
singularity75For the past few weeks there was a lot of talk about nuclear reactors providing medical isotopes. The one we have here in Canada was offline for a prolonged period of time due to a mistake....the required safety upgrades were not there when they should have been so they had to do them making the one week down time into weeks. These safety upgrades are to stop nuclear accidents from happening because in this case, it was to help protect against earthquakes. They do have some protection already and we don't get much in the way of earthquakes here so this was to make protection better.
You may think that the nuclear authority (Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission) was being over zealous. Thing is, they know their history. They know the history of nuclear accidents in this world, they have not forgotten those facts. The general public has no idea that Canada is one of three countries that have had nuclear meltdowns. Everyone can usually name the US and Russia but few people recall Canada who had the first accident. Back then the other countries thought we were nuts to have so many safety precautions and that it was a waste of money. When the meltdown started, the precautions that others had? Would have failed and a full meltdown would have happened. Instead, our extra safety prevailed. To this day, all other countries use multiple safeties to avoid such issues thanks to what we did.
Fast forward a few decades and now people want them to not have as many safeties in place anymore. Are you nuts? An accident can occur, those safeties are there to help either avoid the accident or to contain it so nothing happens to the public. If we start ignoring safety as many would want, we open ourselves to trouble.
Whenever the government brings in 'scientists or advisors' I'm always skeptical. When they said there was no need for the safety upgrades and we should simple restart the reactor right away I wasn't surprised. That the government would do that, I'm not surprised. That the opposition parties would allow the government to force the governing body for nuclear reactors to restart the reactor by suspending their powers? Disgusting and a bad precedent. This allows for them to do it again if someone doesn't like their decisions. They are there to protect us and make sure we are safe...they don't forget history. Governments, are not here to protect us, make us safe and they definitely don't remember history...they are here to get themselves reelected and gain popularity.
If an accident now happens...then what?
You may think that the nuclear authority (Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission) was being over zealous. Thing is, they know their history. They know the history of nuclear accidents in this world, they have not forgotten those facts. The general public has no idea that Canada is one of three countries that have had nuclear meltdowns. Everyone can usually name the US and Russia but few people recall Canada who had the first accident. Back then the other countries thought we were nuts to have so many safety precautions and that it was a waste of money. When the meltdown started, the precautions that others had? Would have failed and a full meltdown would have happened. Instead, our extra safety prevailed. To this day, all other countries use multiple safeties to avoid such issues thanks to what we did.
Fast forward a few decades and now people want them to not have as many safeties in place anymore. Are you nuts? An accident can occur, those safeties are there to help either avoid the accident or to contain it so nothing happens to the public. If we start ignoring safety as many would want, we open ourselves to trouble.
Whenever the government brings in 'scientists or advisors' I'm always skeptical. When they said there was no need for the safety upgrades and we should simple restart the reactor right away I wasn't surprised. That the government would do that, I'm not surprised. That the opposition parties would allow the government to force the governing body for nuclear reactors to restart the reactor by suspending their powers? Disgusting and a bad precedent. This allows for them to do it again if someone doesn't like their decisions. They are there to protect us and make sure we are safe...they don't forget history. Governments, are not here to protect us, make us safe and they definitely don't remember history...they are here to get themselves reelected and gain popularity.
If an accident now happens...then what?
