Message from Hsin

Since the earthquake occurred, I was seeking for what I can do, then came up with this idea.
I asked my friends to send messages to Japan.
Here is the one from Hsin.


*********************************************
I would like to offer my deepest sympathy to Japanese people.  You have suffered such tremendous calamities.  The images of tsunami were horrendous, but the most worrisome was the nuclear power plants.  For many days, there was this helplessness that makes you wonder whether anything was being done or could be done.  The reassuring messages from the authorities seemed to lose their credibility gradually.  At least now the electricity has been restored to the plants and the water with it to cool the reactors.

Last night I watched Letterman (unusual for me) and Michio Kaku, a Physics professor from City College of New York where I work, was a guest.  Of course, he is a Japanese and has family and relatives in that area.  He
pointed out that the electricity company has the interests of protecting their investment, which could be in conflict with the concern of public safety.  This may have resulted in the initial inept reactions.  He also
mentioned that when Chernobyl happened, Gorbachev had the swift action of having Red Army dumping sands, concrete, and boron to entomb the whole plant.  The reactor might still be hot today.

But now the water is in the plants and the things became a bit controlled, it is hopeful that the outcome in Japan will be much better than in Chernobyl.  Who wants an entombed nuclear power plant that marks the whole
area as a waste land?

The nuclear plant issues in Japan has similarity with the Gulf oil spill in USA.  Both incidents were so huge and so technology-intense that they relied, to a large extent, the industries themselves to solve.  But their
interests may not be totally in line with the public interests.  And these technologies are inherently dangerous.  There are many issues, such as the public's right to know, how much we can trust the industries to police themselves, and how much patience should public grant them in such disasters?

There will surely be a tremendous rebuilding task in Japan.  But Japan is one of the most technologically-advanced country and its people are among the most hard-working.  So we can be optimistic about it.

Hsin Wang
*********************************************

Thank you, Hsin!
For those who want to participate this project, please send your message to Japan via e-mail (naokosing@gmail.com).