Is the accident in Japan a death sentence for nuclear power?

By Dana Muntean

Japan’s nuclear seems to reshape the world’s view on the climate change’s solution by changing world energy scenarios, and causing significant delays in investments in nuclear power.

Christiana Figueres, the United Nations' top climate change official told that the “meltdown will probably push up the costs of nuclear energy, making renewables more competitive.”

Governments in India, the United States and Europe are under pressure to review safety standards , and Germany and Switzerland intend to extend the operational life of existing plants, pending safety reviews.
The Japan crisis will trigger a massive global debate, particularly in Australia, which is home to 27 per cent of the world's reserves of uranium.

Michael A. Levi of the Council on Foreign Relations says that “The Japanese disaster, though, may make moderates in the environmental community far more reticent to deal, just as the BP disaster made them less willing to deal on offshore drilling. A big swing within this bloc could have real consequences for U.S. policy on nuclear power.” and that “with nuclear power already under pressure from cheap natural gas, regulatory reactions to the latest disaster could tip the balance.”

The European Commission's top climate negotiator said that the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan will definitely have an impact on global climate change negotiations.

Artur Runge-Metzger told that the radiation crisis at the quake-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex will push the world to look for better technologies that pose less risk in the future.

Minamikawa also reiterated Japan's position on the international framework on climate change, saying, "Japan consistently aims for the early establishment of a single, fair and effective international framework with participation of all major countries.”

I think that the decisions that are made today could be the most important in human history. It depends on us if we manage to take the tremendous threats of climate change and nuclear annihilation under control or we just wait and see what else happens and don't care about the future generations.