Tokyo’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is said to be registering at 100-thousand times the normal level of radiation following the Sendai earthquake three weeks ago. Is the breach at Fukushima further proof that, in our search for energy independence, nuclear power may just be an uncontrollable gambit? Or is there a safer means to extract the power of the atom? Does fail-safe technology really exist? For the answers, we speak to Olli Heinonen and Lisa Margonelli. Olli Heinonen is a former deputy director general for the International Atomic Energy Agency and currently a visiting scholar at Harvard’s Kennedy School. Lisa Margonelli, is a fellow at the New American Foundation where she writes about the global culture and the economy of energy. Lisa is also the author of “Oil On the Brain: Petroleum’s Long Strange Trip to Your Tank.”
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.