It’s already been 66 years since the United States dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. To commemorate all those that died in that fateful event, thousands of paper lanterns were lit on Motoyasu River in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome, which is near Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Up to date, there have been over 500,000 casualties, half of them civilians, and a large number of people suffer from leukemia and cancer. Then one wonders, after an event as such, why is nuclear energy still produced and fostered?
Not completely recovered from the consequences of the bombing more than half a century ago, last March 11th, 2011 an earthquake and a tsunami hit Japan, both of them which will be remembered as the most devastating natural disasters that have ever hit the country (at least up to now). But that is not it; as a result of these catastrophes Fukushima’s Nuclear Power Station got overheated, releasing radioactive material to the atmosphere and to the ocean. And it was just a week ago that the first case of radioactive contamination in rice was found.
Acknowledging the dangers of nuclear power, used as a weapon or as a source of energy, shouldn’t we all be striving for the development of more efficient methods of renewable eco-friendly energy? I know there are countries which depend on nuclear power (the US for instance), but isn’t it worth to invest some more money on sources of energy which don’t produce waste?
Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan declared in May that their country will leave behind the idea of constructing new nuclear reactors. Let it be a milestone so that other countries get going with the development of alternative energy. In the meantime the number of lanterns on Motoyasu River will continue increasing in the following years.
