While I try to stay “on topic” of the Olympic Peninsula, the issue of nuclear power is relevant, in that we are struggling to find alternatives to our power sources, alternatives affecting us like tidal, wave generated, solar, “biomass” or the like. Our dams, like the Elwha, are killing off our salmon runs. As Billy Frank, Jr has said, “Every time you turn on a light bulb, a salmon comes flying out”.
Additionally, some noted “environmentalists” have taken up the cause of nuclear power, at sites like http://www.ecolo.org/base/baseen.htm, to combat global warming.
A small article from the BBC today discussed the latest closing of a nuclear power plant (temporarily) in western Japan, but mentioned the following
With the closure at Ohi, only 18 of Japan’s 54 reactors remain operational.
This is really an astonishing number. Japan has spent billions, maybe trillions, building out a nuclear power infrastructure that appears to have less than 1/2 of the plants currently operating. Radioactivity from the plants at Fukushima, damaged in the earthquake/tsunamai in April, continue to spew unknown amounts of radioactivity into the sea near the coast of Japan, into the Japanese current, that eventually ends up near our shores. We fish in that current. We have no idea if our sea food is safe or not given this situation. In May, Federal and State government officials decided not to even test seafood for radioactivity. (!). Obviously, even finding a small amount of radioactivity above normal levels could bring disaster to the Alaskan and Washington fishing industry. But is the fish safe? European diners are apparently trying to avoid Alaskan fish, as a precaution.
The only thing that a sane person could take from this is that the nuclear power bet in Japan has been a huge failure, from a cost/benefit basis, and is possibly affecting other countries as well given the spillage into the sea. What alternatives the Japanese may have at this late stage is unknown. Solar power at these latitudes is not very effective. Tidal, wind and wave on a large scale basis is likely the only way forward safely.
My take on all this is that we need a real push in this part of the country to continue to pursue alternative power options. Years have been wasted with government inaction in funding this critical work, while we give huge tax breaks to Big Oil. The work being done to determine the tidal power generation off Admiralty Head by Puget Power is an excellent opportunity to see what the efficiency is, and scale we need to build out to achieve goals of power for the area. We also need to find where these ‘farms’ could be built without major disruption to the seabed and marine ecosystem. Recent findings about the importance of deep (150 ft) sand dunes that are breeding ground for sand lance (bait fish for salmon and birds), mean that we need to be cautious moving forward.
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