Nuclear Power: Is it worth the risk?

Wow, it's been a month since I last posted anything on this blog. Life hasn't been too kind to me lately. I've been bombarded with work and several deadlines at work. The problem is I'm missing on a lot of them.

The final deadline to complete my work is dawning. Don't know how I'll cope once early April starts. That'll probably be one of the worst times for me because need to wrap up my work as soon as possible. Crazy client :(

Anyway, with the recent developments happening around the world, I feel like I'm losing touch with reality. I didn't even had the time to read deeper into what was happening in Japan because I was too engrossed in my work and I don't typically get to read The Sun (simply because it always finishes when I'm leaving for work)

Since nuclear power is always being put on the newspaper lately, what do you think about nuclear power? Especially in the context of Malaysia

What I think

First of all, I believe that nuclear power should be put in good hands at all times. The reason for this is because there is just so much at stake i.e. public health (not just the citizens of the country but also neighbouring countries). Just imagine a company runing a nuclear reactor slacks on safety and a disaster more serious than what happened in Japan will unravel.

Secondly, I believe that this technology will bring various benefits to the human race if it is utilized the right way. Nuclear power is one of the cleanest energy around (no incremental carbon dioxide emission after the emissions for building the reactor). It is also one of the most advanced technologies for generating power (this is aside from solar and wind energy with very low yields). It would be beneficial for the human race as a whole to exploit the use of this source of energy (with proper restraints), considering the fact that oil prices are increasing ever so dramatically

Nuclear power is in a way safer compared to certain energies because of the fact that it is a heavily regulated industry (the regulator for the nuclear power industry is International Atomic Energy Agency, more commonly known as IAEA). Regulation is tight because of the fact tha the nuclear power industry is a very niche industry (nuclear reactors are very expensive to build) and the industry is small. Only rich countries can afford to build nuclear reactors (if they ever choose to). With the expansion of the industry, I foresee that there will be more slack in terms of regulation

My take: It is beneficial for Malaysia to build a nuclear reactor as an alternative source of power. This is considering that Malaysia is not prone to natural disasters like earthquakes. This also simplifies the nuclear reactor builder because they do not necessarily need to establish safety measures for earthquakes. They would need to establish other safety measures to cope with the local environment (warm weather etc.)

However, I do not believe that the nuclear reactor will be managed properly considering the political situation of the country. Corruption is bound to happen and transparency in public institutions i.e. government agencies and government-linked companies is not good enough to induce proper management of the nuclear reactor