Persuasive Essay On Fukushima Nuclear

Nearly 6 years have passed from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, but many areas in Fukushima still remain abandoned as ‘ghost towns’, according to DailyMail. Residents of those areas have remained evacuated from their hometowns because of continuing high radiation levels, and most buildings have been left untouched since the accident occurred. This proves that nuclear accidents are extremely destructive for people and future generations. Japan must stop using nuclear power energy because it’s dangerous, overall bad for the environment, nor economical.

The first reason is that, as mentioned above, nuclear power can cause major accidents like the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and is treacherous. It is considered safe when they are operating

Nuclear power is often seen as a cheap energy source that makes it possible to generate vast amount of energy at once. That is true, if the focus is just on the energy generation cost. Kansai Electric Power Company presented that the cost for nuclear power generation was ranked as the cheapest, 10.1 yen per kWh, comparing to other energy sources such as solar energy which costs about 30 yen per kWh. From this it is unquestionable that nuclear power generation costs cheaper than others and may be seen as an economical energy source. However, when nuclear accidents like the Fukushima nuclear disaster happen, the government of Japan and big companies will have to pay for the damages and compensation. Recently, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry released preliminary calculations of the cost for the Fukushima nuclear disaster’s clean-ups. The cost rose to 21.5 trillion yen, roughly double of the previous prediction. This unimaginably huge number indicates how much nuclear power can cost in case accidents like this happen, and again, it is impossible to predict these disasters. Moreover, Kenichi Oshima, a professor of Ritsumeikan University estimated that the disaster has cost Japanese taxpayers about 13.3 trillion yen. “The underlying cost is mainly being paid by the public, either through electricity bills or as tax,” said Mr Oshima. This data shows that the taxes could have caused economic hardships for the Japanese citizens.

According to World Nuclear Association, Japan depends on imports for over 90% of energy since the country is low in natural resources. That is an issue because middle-eastern countries that Japan imports oil/gas from are unable to sell those resources at a stable price rate. However, it is possible to cover that problem by using an alternative type of oil/gas which are available now because of new technology, called ‘shale oil/gas’. Although shale oil/gas aren’t common yet, they are found in countries which will be able to sell oil/gas at a stable price rate. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that shale oil/gas were available in 42 countries in the world. Hence, by importing stable resources like shale oil/gas, Japan will potentially be able to avoid using nuclear energy and shift to other ways of energy