God's Whim, Nuclear Reactors, and the ethics of the Miami-Dade County Commission ... by gimleteye

It takes a nuclear disaster to flush out the hypocrisy of elected officials who suddenly appear concerned about public health and welfare related to nuclear power. Just wait. On Monday, the questions from the mainstream media to Miami Dade county public officials will start pouring in: could the same thing that is happening in Japan, happen here? Then you will hear a lot of hemming and hawing. How we are not in an earthquake zone. How we have adequate back up power even in the event of a major hurricane. How FPL is working closely with regulators to ensure the highest degree of safety at Turkey Point.

What exactly is happening in Japan with failure of nuclear reactors, is the question. The public in Japan is not being informed. The "experts" recruited to appear on CNN and Fox News have talking points not worth their weight in air. When a nuclear reactor fails, not even the nuclear scientists-- much less politicians-- can tell you what exactly is going to happen next.

So: would you in the same situation, with Turkey Point possibly melting down, stay or flee? Based on what I know about ethical behavior of our county officials and FPL related to nuclear power, the first hint of a problem at Turkey Point, my family is in a car headed to Palm Beach and points north. I'm not waiting for FPL to "get its story right" or for the evacuation routes to be impassible. (for more detail, see our archive under "Turkey Point" and "Florida Power and Light")

Yesterday I suggested that Miami-Dade County Commissioners suit up and fly to Japan to be involved in hands-on efforts to prevent the reactors from melting down, giving them a taste of what it is like to be in the vicinity of God's whim. I volunteered that EOM readers should contribute to their airplane fares. Yes, our county commissioners have done the bidding for two creaky, aging nuclear reactors owned by a private corporation, Florida Power and Light, that are already threatening public health and property through unplanned infection of salt water into the drinking water aquifer.

What is tragically unfolding in Japan is instructive about nuclear power facilities particular to Miami, at sea level and straight in the path of the occasional Category 5 hurricane. Tomorrow FPL will say, the opposite. Expect our elected officials to have "no comment". Will you trust them? Do you trust the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that has given FPL a free pass to avoid the thorniest questions about inserting two new nuclear reactors at Turkey Point? Nuclear reactors are safe until they are not safe. Once the tipping point flips from "in control" to "out of control", you are not going to get any better information than the citizens living in the vicinity of the failing reactors in Japan.

When things go wrong at Turkey Point, Miami-Dade county commissioners will vanish like smoke. Then, from a somber command center, a mayor and officials will gather around a podium with the seal of Miami-Dade County in the background. They will tell everyone to stay calm. FPL will push out its spin that everything is in control-- like the desperate problem of salt water intrusion in Homestead and Florida City-- until it is not.

One solution: criminalize decision-making by politicians that kills people and wrecks property. It would go something like this: for permitting a nuclear power plant that subsequently fails, politicians responsible for votes allowing permitting decisions at the time, shall be stripped of all their assets, held in bank accounts or trust, and property. The right for the public to reclaim shall extend two generations so that grandchildren, too, would be required to forfeit their possessions, held in name or trust, based on decisions their grandfathers or grandmothers made as public servants. If you didn't vote for the decision that resulted, ultimately, in loss of life and property, then you are not penalized. On their rescue mission to Japan, our Miami Dade County Commissioners could work out the exact text.