Recently, at the troubled Japanese nuclear power plants, a group of heroes are generously risking their lives to save the lives of many others. Like the firefighters of New York city on September 11. As then, the generous love for others, even at the cost of one’s life, is the true light in the darkness of this tragedy. It shines a light on the path to follow. It is a direction for a brave journey for all mankind to follow.
For days, images of the tragedy in Japan continue to upset every human being and provoke questions. From the very outset they have evoked memories of the tragic Indian Ocean tsunami six years ago, which also caused a frightening number of victims, and even more: a sea of suffering and pain that calls for our compassion, our sympathy and our prayers.
But with the space of a few days the world's attention has shifted to the disaster at the nuclear power plant. The Japanese have shown that they can cope with earthquakes in an admirable way, constructing buildings capable of withstanding the strongest shocks. In other countries the same shock would have caused countless deaths.
Yet even Japan’s technical progress has revealed, in one sense, and unexpectedly a weak point. It only took the serious damage of one of the approximately fifty Japanese nuclear power plants to cause a new fear of death that is spreading around the world, in addition to the tsunami’s destruction. Nuclear power is a great natural resource which man tries to use for his benefit, but if he loses control of it, it can turn against him. And nobody knows better than the Japanese people the effects of energy released from a nuclear source turned against man.
The safety of nuclear power plants and radioactive waste storage will never be absolute. It is right and necessary to reflect again on the proper use of technological power, its risks and its human price. This crucial topic should never be overlooked from now on.
For days, images of the tragedy in Japan continue to upset every human being and provoke questions. From the very outset they have evoked memories of the tragic Indian Ocean tsunami six years ago, which also caused a frightening number of victims, and even more: a sea of suffering and pain that calls for our compassion, our sympathy and our prayers.
But with the space of a few days the world's attention has shifted to the disaster at the nuclear power plant. The Japanese have shown that they can cope with earthquakes in an admirable way, constructing buildings capable of withstanding the strongest shocks. In other countries the same shock would have caused countless deaths.
Yet even Japan’s technical progress has revealed, in one sense, and unexpectedly a weak point. It only took the serious damage of one of the approximately fifty Japanese nuclear power plants to cause a new fear of death that is spreading around the world, in addition to the tsunami’s destruction. Nuclear power is a great natural resource which man tries to use for his benefit, but if he loses control of it, it can turn against him. And nobody knows better than the Japanese people the effects of energy released from a nuclear source turned against man.
The safety of nuclear power plants and radioactive waste storage will never be absolute. It is right and necessary to reflect again on the proper use of technological power, its risks and its human price. This crucial topic should never be overlooked from now on.
