Are we prepared for the worst case scenario?

As Japan escalates the threat level at Fukushima nuclear plant to 7, it clearly indicates that a Chernobyl like disaster is not far from here. Anytime, Japan can face the worst ever nuclear catastrophe after what it had brushed with at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, during World War II. The world nuclear scientific community is helplessly looking for a way out like Mahabharat's Abhimanyu who though knew how to penetrate a seven-layer of armors ring, but had hardly an iota of knowledge as how to escape from such dangerous plot. Beyond the sarcasm of irony, I would like to ask those scientists who are basking under the glory of a complex scientific discovery of nuclear fission, have they ever considered the grave concerns of an imminent nuclear catastrophe which could be a serious cause of complete annihilation of mankind from the surface of earth? What have they learned till date from the sequence of nuclear disasters emerged from Kyshtyn, Windscale, Three Mile, and Chernobyl? Even after 25 years of the Chernobyl incident, the nuclear scientists are still not in a position to design alternative processes to absolutely reverse the nuclear reaction, other than the moderation, and still claim they have achieved sky high in nuclear technology. I would like to remind these scientific jingoists that they are still at half way in their journey towards excellence. What's the need of the hour for them is to first come forward and find out as many alternatives to counter an extremely acute situation haunting Fukushima. Fukushima is not a regional case, it's become the gravest global concern given the visible repercussions the entire mankind is waiting for. This is the high time that the political leadership of Japan should shun the cocoon of introversion and act proactively to ask for immediate help from the western countries to evade a potentially dangerous nuclear holocaust, which Japan wont be the only country to witness, but the entire Asia, Europe and surrounding regions would face the brunt. If the international scientific community still doesn't have a fitting solution to counter Fukushima's gravest problem, then it's better to stop marketing a half-baked scientific discovery, which has more dangerous implications than any amount of contribution to economic progress.

Learning from Japan's nuclear crisis

The recent devastation in Japan, caused by earthquake and tsunami, raises some pertinent questions about the disaster preparedness of countries across the globe. Though there many susceptible areas which need attention for immediate action for rehabilitation, the major one is the nuclear power plant safety because of its wide range impact on the environment. Being in an energy-hungry world, thanks to the rapid industrialization and urbanization that are catching up emerging economies, most developed and developing countries are opting for clean-energy technology such as nuclear power plants, without even considering the potential risks attached to them.

For records sake, the last 50 years in human progress have witnessed to the huge nuclear disasters that have emerged from critical accidents such as Chernobyl and Tokaimura; by natural calamities such as Fukushima and Three Mile Island; or by human errors such as Canadian Manhattan Project. It's now the time for the pro-nuclear communities to learn the lessons from Japan's nuclear crisis that attracted the huge criticisms from the environmental activists and ecologists across the globe. As most nuclear scientists claim that nuclear power is the most environment-friendly energy source, it's now a serious proposition for them to ensure how they can build a safety mechanism for plants to withstand the world's worst natural calamities, be it a magnitude-10 earthquake or a high-powered tsunami with epicenter as close to the location of the plant, or a man-made disaster like missile attack or dropping a nuclear bomb during war.

Let's look at the helplessness of Japan while fighting relentlessly to avoid the nuclear disaster due to power backup failure in the plant. This triggered a huge radioactive radiation upto 5 on a maximum severity scale of 7. The unscientific methods used there like pouring sea water from the top to cool the reactors display the extreme exigencies that a economically developed country even doesn't mind to follow not only to block the simmering situation, but also to ensure larger environment safety, which might trespass to bordering countries. So here arises a series of questions that Japan had never attempted to address before deploying these nuclear plants. First, the reactors used in Fukushima Daiichi were 40 years old and were Generation II types, which carry more risks than the Generation III and III+ reactors. Second, the power backup diesel generators were housed in an underground building close to the coast, so once a 7-metre tsunami flooded the room, the power generators failed to work. Third, there was no tertiary power supply to the reactors to trigger cooling process. And there are many other serious questions on the designing of the entire structure of the nuclear complex so close to a series of fault lines around Fukushima.

Now this is a strong message for the countries which are opting for large-scale deployment of nuclear plants for power generation. Before moving ahead, they shouldn't ignore the mistakes of Japan's recent nuclear crisis. Maybe, they can then avoid some potentials risks stored in for them along the life cycle of those plants.

The spirit of Japan

Almost battered by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, followed by a devastating tsunami, and finally an upsurging nuclear crisis, Japan still shows a brilliant sign of resilience while fighting back the imminent nuclear meltdown in the Daiichi nuclear plants at Sendai. The way Japan is managing the post-tsunami nuclear crisis to save the country and neighborhoods from a Chernobyl like situation is something unprecedented and remarkable. Perhaps, no nation can be so resolute to handle a crisis of this measure at a time when human toll has crossed over ten thousands, some cities entirely wiped out from the land, transportation maimed, and the infrastructures including the utility services have literally paralyzed. This speaks a volume about the spirit of a nation that has frequently faced the fury of nature in the past many centuries, but retrieved from the catastrophe with intrepidity. That truly explains the enterprising nature of a nation, which irrespective of crisis, however large, keeps bouncing back to the track in a heroic fashion. And the way things are shaping up in Japan's post earthquake period, conspicuously ensures that Japan will soon back to normalcy and send a clear message to this world that nothing is too big a danger for the enterprising people. That will be a great lesson for the entire world to emulate.

Nature's Fury

It's yet another timeless, classic test of God to measure the tenacity of citizens of Japan during extreme tribulations. Even after many human-endeavoured (read war-mongered) devastating wars and natural calamities like shattering earthquakes, and that too in the aftermath of the recent earthquake of 8.9 followed by a gigantic sweep of tsunami, its people stand in poise and complete sangfroid. Unbelievable their courage and power to challenge every odd of life, be it America's revenge by dropping atom bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or the frequented volcanic eruptions, tremors, earthquakes, tsunamis, in every disaster they have proved to be the heroes in human evolution, from complete devastation to super colossal economic development, the Japan is altogether a different saga that no nation can dare to live.

When electronic media was not developed and people naturally depended on newspaper stories, the reality of the ground was reaching people at least after 24 hours the incident occurred. Now the situation is completely different. Electronic media and social media have changed the perspectives of 24x7 news service, which is quite evident from the videos available on YouTube in the immediate aftermath of a 8.9 scale earthquake followed by a roaring tsunami hitting Japan today. It was a deja vu of experience transporting your imagination to the locales where thousands of people stranded, engulfed in the rage of nature's worst calamity, but one thing was remarkable – people's composure even during this darkest moment was unprecedented, an attribute that other nationals would take generations to learn.

Bad times come and go, but the people with great determination and courage to resurrect from the loss, however large, only define the future. I wish at the moment the Japanese who are facing misfortune would come out from the smashup and march ahead with indomitable courage and great conviction to send a message to the entire world: “Look, we are invincible at the face of dire calamities, be it natural or man-made, we are the tribe that has shown the valor repeatedly in the history of human adversity.”