US VP during TMI & AMB to Japan during Kobe Earthquake Now Rethinks Nuclear

[kristopher]

The 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake in Japan, also called the Kobe earthquake, killed nearly 6,500 people and caused more than $100 billion in damage. Former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale was the American Ambassador to Japan during the crisis. He talked with VOA’s Kane Farabaugh about how the United States and Japan worked together during the recovery, and how the current crisis in Japan might reshape world views on nuclear power.

Walter Mondale vividly remembers visiting Japan's Sendai region while he was U.S. ambassador during the mid-1990s. The region is now reeling from the destruction caused by a devastating 9.0 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami.

Mondale recalls visiting the now crippled nuclear reactors at the Fukushima-Daiichi power station, which is at the center of Japan's current crisis.

"One of the things I remember from that is being astounded at how clean and quiet it was, without tension, almost a perfect environment in how they were producing power for a nation that had none of their own energy locally without polluting the environment," said Walter Mondale. "And here it was, working. And yet now, 15 years later, we look at the same plants that are creating problems that are biblical in nature."

The crisis continues to...


http://www.voanews.com/english/news/usa/Former-US-VP--Japan-Crisis-Might-Reshape-Views-on-Nuclear-Power-118402434.html



This is an outstanding view-from-the-top read.

[kristopher]

1. Kicking for morning coffee. It's a good read. nt