Former Japanese PM Naoto Kan on the Fukushima Disaster
A Changing View of Nuclear Power
Article Summary and Author Biography
Prior to the 2011 earthquake, Kan had supported the expansion of Japan's system of nuclear power plants. The disaster at Fukushima Daiichi changed that. This is his case for a nuclear-free future.
NAOTO KAN served from June 2010 to September 2011 as Prime Minister of Japan.
Snapshot
A first-person account from a senior director on the National Security Council during the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and subsequent disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant in Japan.
Kan bows to the Japanese flag before a news conference in Tokyo on April 12, 2011. (j808armada / flickr)
My father was an engineer, and when I was a child, he told me the story of Prometheus, a famous Greek myth in which Zeus grows angry at Prometheus for giving humans the wisdom of fire, knowledge capable of bringing on disaster. As punishment, Zeus chains Prometheus to a rock, where an eagle pecks incessantly at his liver. Today, I cannot help but remember that story when I think about the development of nuclear technology, a modern-day incarnation of the wisdom of fire.
In college, I studied science and technology, and ever since, I have had a great admiration for the Pugwash conferences, a forum dedicated to the elimination of nuclear weapons (the group won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993). That is because nuclear weapons, which have the power to kill large numbers of people indiscriminately, are fundamentally at odds with the purpose of science, which is to contribute to people's well-being. To put it another way: Nuclear weapons contradict the very nature of humanity. In fact, this concern was the major reason why I aspired to be a political leader.
Long before the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, I knew there were serious unresolved issues regarding the safety of nuclear power and the disposal of radioactive waste. I took the position that these issues could be overcome by technology. With adequate safeguards, nuclear power plants could be operated safely and utilized wisely. Especially in recent years, in order to prevent global warming, nuclear power has been an effective replacement to power plants that feed on fossil fuels and pollute the atmosphere. In fact, before Fukushima, Japan had a plan to expand its network of nuclear plants...
