Giant earthquake has hit Japan

[steingar]

The most powerful ever recorded, if I am not mistaken.

 

[Jim Logajan]

Thousands dead and infrastructure and material goods in ruin. Aftershocks continue, though decreasing. All this, yet when I did a Google news search, it appeared as if the world media headlines indicated a fixation not on the actual disaster, but on a potential (i.e. unrealized as of the time of this posting) hazard which can and could actually be mitigated against. Why?

 

[Jim Logajan]

I remember hearing it was thousands. Wikipedia says 1800 cases.

Edit - reading further, it looks like there's controversy over that number, and the other mortality figures, but it's in the thousands.

A well-equipped terrorist can kill thousands in seconds without any use of nuclear material. I hear its been done with jet aircraft. Hadn't heard anyone demanding halting the production of jet aircraft or their use - yet the threat will exist so long as jet aircraft (and terrorists) exist.

My understanding is that, on balance, traveling by jet aircraft is considered by most to be worth the continued risk - though with some attempts at risk mitigation (I think there is some debate on the kinds of attempts - might be some threads elsewhere on this forum on that.)

There appear to be a vocal group of people who seem to use a different risk/benefit assessment when it comes to nuclear energy. As best I can make out, no amount of additional risk mitigation seems satisfactory - electrical power seems to be optional and not worth any amount of risk.

 

[Jim Logajan]

An interesting opinion on the nuclear issue.

Telling me a nuclear plant cost triples to $10 billion doesn't tell me anything about its economic viability. That kind of writing is intended to sway people impressed by big numbers. It is indeed a "hit piece" because it doesn't compare options. (Not to mention the irrelevant inclusion of Karl Marx!) For example:

Does the article mention the capital and operating costs of coal power electric plants? Why not?
How about natural gas plants?

Frankly I expect sincere attempts at assessments to look more like this:
http://www.nucleartourist.com/basics/costs.htm

Notwithstanding dated information, the above link actually tries to compare options. It also helps when making a case to provide sources for information so people can determine its veracity. "Show your work" doesn't just apply to academic homework, it applies to journalists too.