A magnitude 9.0 earthquake followed by a 10-metre tsunami - it is hard to imagine a more severe stress test thrown at a nuclear power plant. As Japanese authorities yesterday struggled to contain possible reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, observers were quick to draw their own conclusions.
For the anti-nuclear lobby, it was an opportunity to attack the industry; Germany and Russia both announced immediate reviews of safety procedures; and analysts from various quarters questioned industry-wide safety policies and risk analysis models.
Not only Japan has been shaken by events of the last three days. The wreckage caused by the earthquake and tsunami has given way, for the time being at least, to fears about Fukushima and even speculation about the nuclear industry as a whole.
It is far too early to judge the full consequences of this accident. But in any event, countries across the globe will remain wedded to nuclear power. As just one example, within a day of the accident, China announced that it would not change its plans to generate 40 million megawatts at new nuclear power plants by 2015. For the UAE too, nuclear energy is a basic constituent of the national development policy. There should be lessons learnt from Fukushima - not least planning for extraordinary events - but there are several basic reasons why nuclear power is here to stay.
In a world increasingly concerned by climate change, nuclear fission is the only energy source that can meet growing demand while not breaking emissions targets. It is relatively large-scale, cheap, plentiful and, barring an accident, clean. Radioactive fallout and waste are obvious concerns where best available technology has to be applied.
The Japanese nuclear industry is usually credited with the highest safety standards for its technology and practices. In this case, however, the Fukushima plant had been in operation for 40 years and was scheduled to be decommissioned. Crucially, the first failsafe - the automatic reactor shutdown - did work.
New plants, including those planned for the UAE, have other safeguards to prevent overheating, although there will undoubtedly be lessons learnt as this event becomes better understood. Such a massive earthquake followed by a devastating tsunami so near a nuclear plant may seem like phenomenal bad luck, but nuclear safety demands that extreme events are planned for.
Hopefully, the Fukushima plant will survive this test without further loss of life or major environmental degradation. Japanese authorities have marshalled a quick emergency response. In considering the future of the industry, a similarly practical approach is in order.
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Ukraine 2 (Yaremchuk 06', Yarmolenko 27')
Portugal 1 (Ronaldo 72' pen)
Company%20Profile
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Diriyah%20project%20at%20a%20glance
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
FIRST TEST SCORES
England 458
South Africa 361 & 119 (36.4 overs)
England won by 211 runs and lead series 1-0
Player of the match: Moeen Ali (England)
The 10 Questions
- Is there a God?
- How did it all begin?
- What is inside a black hole?
- Can we predict the future?
- Is time travel possible?
- Will we survive on Earth?
- Is there other intelligent life in the universe?
- Should we colonise space?
- Will artificial intelligence outsmart us?
- How do we shape the future?
Company%20profile
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
Dunbar
Edward St Aubyn
Hogarth
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
SUCCESSION%20SEASON%204%20EPISODE%201
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Company%20Profile
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Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
EMIRATES'S%20REVISED%20A350%20DEPLOYMENT%20SCHEDULE
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About Housecall
Date started: July 2020
Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech
# of staff: 10
Funding to date: Self-funded
Company%20Profile
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