BARRON'S NUCLEAR INSANITY IN USA AND CHINA

To the Editor:

In response to the Dec. 7 Up & Down Asia story “China’s Insane Nuclear Gamble,” let’s apply a typical crisis-control playbook to an American inland nuclear disaster, perhaps a Fukushima-type reactor on the Columbia River.  Our playbook would yield results similar to those of the Japanese at Fukushima with about 100,000 evacuees and the disruption of industries. However, our disruptions would be more severe than those in Japan because they would include the already massive ongoing cleanup of defense nuclear facilities along the Columbia River that date back to the 1940’s.  Moreover the disruptions would send “problems” down the river, in contrast to sending them into the Pacific Ocean.  In terms of insanity, the Chinese may outrank us; however, they do not yet have 100 inland nuclear power plants.