Like us, they too have aspirations.

Couldn’t stop watching this video! Perhaps because there is so little to cheer about these days that we are moved by any effort that cheers an ordinary and random act of goodness.

It’s a great way to begin the week. Happy Monday to you all.

As of today the MIC gas that killed thousands in the world’s worst industrial disaster in Bhopal, India will no longer be produced in the U.S. Bayer CropScience announced they won’t resume production of the gas after West Virginia resident sued them. The plant was originally owned by Union Carbide and was bought by Bayer CropScience in 2002.

The Bayer press release is here.

26 years after Bhopal disaster, the Kanawha Valley residents finally won the fight to rid their neighborhood of MIC gas. As for the victims in Bhopal? They’re still waiting for justice.

Bummer! But that’s what a study conducted by a team at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada found.

Running on compressed gas resulted in only minor reductions in particulate matter – the tiny particles of dust, soot and metals that have been linked to heart disease, respiratory failure and cancer. Meanwhile, greenhouse gas emissions actually increased.

The reason for the increased emissions is here.

Here in the U.S. the Nuclear industry’s experts are out in full force to quell fears about its disaster preparedness in the event of a catastrophe like what we’re seeing in Japan. In India, the Prime Minister announced a safety review. Meanwhile the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) touted the fact that India’s nuclear reactors withstood the Bhuj earthquake and the 2004 Tsunami.

India plans to build 20 nuclear energy plants and spend $175 billion by 2030 on nuclear generation. One of these plants is the controversial Jaitapur Madban Nuclear Power Plant that reports show is being built in an earthquake prone zone.

From watching and reading all the nuclear power industry experts, here are the 6 things we’ve understood they want us to believe….because they said so:

1. Every nuclear reactor around the world can withstand an 8.9 or higher earthquake even though most of them are built to specifications of the seismic activity in their particular areas.
2. All their backup systems are fail-safe, having accounted for EVERY possible disaster that can strike after an earthquake or tsunami.
3. They have been regularly conducting safety drills to ensure for preparedness.
4. These drills have been conducted in conjunction with all the federal, state and local authorities responsible, and they have a clear disaster management plan that outlines who does what in such a scenario.
5. The drills have included warning and evacuation plans for civilians within the 10-20 mile radius that is tagged the emergency zone around a nuclear plant.
6. Potasium iodide which prevents absorption of radiation and ultimately cancer is currently being provided to people living within the emergency zone. Stocks are easily available and ready for distribution should such an emergency arise.

This is what they’d like us to believe.

The people of Jaitapur never did. Their case for opposing the ‘world’s largest nuclear power plant’ in their backyard just got stronger.

Tags: Jaitapur Madban Nuclear Power Plant, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL)