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| Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama |
He said that he is in support of nuclear energy for peaceful means as a way to bridge the socioeconomic gap in developing nations and in the absence of more efficient alternative energy sources.
"There are still many developing countries with a huge gap between rich and poor … millions of people's live remain under the poverty level."
He added that energy sources like wind and solar are too inefficient to put into realistic practice to meet the needs of developing nations.
The Dalai Lama's influence extends to many new age communities and even into the philosophical underpinnings of some American environmental groups. So it must come as a profound shock for them to find that he is urging both opponents and proponents to look at the issue "holistically."
The Dalai Lama also addressed some of the emotion laden communication that has been in the forefront of opposition to nuclear energy. In a statement that could just as easily come from an expert on probabilistic risk assessment, the Dalai Lama said that no amount of preparation can completely rule out danger.
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3 comments:
Did this play on the peace-loving mainstream media? Not what I could see! Wonder why...
James Greenidge
The initial report was carried in the Wall Street Journal.
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2011/11/07/dalai-lama-a-role-for-nuclear-power-in-development-process/?blog_id=151&post_id=10986
Is that mainstream enough for you?
With nuclear power, third world civilizations could work around the clock to improve their standard of living. With wind energy, they would be hobbled by the variability of weather. all else being equal, I'm with the Dalai Lama.
But all else is NOT equal. wind carries much higher transmission costs and sprawl, and has its own set of chronic environmental issues. Nuclear has used fuel rod storage - but this is as much an opportunity as a detriment.
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