The Stream, March 28: Nukes, Drought, Asian Carp

As radiation in the water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant surged to potentially lethal levels, Bloomberg reports that Japan’s nuclear regulators and the operator of the plant dismissed warnings two years ago that a tsunami could overwhelm the facility’s defenses.

Nuclear debate
Meanwhile, The Economist continues the nuclear debate with an article that weighs the world’s prospects with and without nuclear power.

This interactive graphic visualizes the world’s energy portfolio and compares the number of deaths related to the main sources of energy globally – coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, hydropower and biomass.

And Der Spiegel reports that Germany’s nuclear power plants have serious safety flaws, with poor protections against earthquakes, plane crashes and cyber attacks. Yet, former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl argues that Germany’s plan to accelerate its nuclear energy phase-out is “overly hasty,” at least until the country finds viable energy alternatives.

U.S. drought
Severe to extreme drought conditions across eastern Colorado, and the western half of Kansas and Oklahoma are raising the risk of more wild fires in the western United States, according to climatologists.

Asian carp
U.S. officials said last week that the electrical barriers installed to keep invasive Asian carp out of the Great Lakes may be too weak to stop the juvenile fish.

The Stream is a daily digest spotting global water trends. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.