I applaud Japan today

Today in Japan, the last of the country's nuclear reactors is scheduled to be shut down. The country has decided to do so in response to the effects that the Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster had on the country following the Mar. 11, 2011 earthquake that devastated the country. It seems fitting that the only country to have ever experienced the horror of nuclear war on home soil would decide to do away with the nuclear monster once and for all.

I applaud the decision to shut down their plants, although Homer Simpson and Mr. Burns will likely not be impressed. Nuclear power, while it does not pollute in a similar way to coal and oil-fired power generating stations, still generates radioactive waste, which as that country (and the Ukraine) are well aware of, can completely decimate an area when a leak occurs.

Building anything on a fault line is not an idea I am particularly in favour of, but the fact is that we can't simply move 128 million people from their ancestral homeland in the name of safety. That is their homeland, and they have chosen to accept the risks that come with living there.

Japan (and the rest of the nations of the Pacific Rim) have a potentially mind-blowing green alternative to nuclear power that can be realized: it's called tidal power.

Using the same concept as modern hydroelectric plants (except in a horizontal orientation), we can use the ocean currents to power our cities. Japan, as a leading technology developer on the world stage, would be wise to jump on this initiative as the country moves forward.

Anata no mirai, Nihon no megumi

(blessings for your future, Japan)