A LETTER FROM PROF. PHAM DUY HIEN TO PRIME MINISTER NAOTO KAN

A letter from Prof. Pham Duy Hien to Prime Minister Naoto Kan

On the occasion of 100 days of Human Fukushima incident and 100 years of nuclear science, Professor Pham Duy Hien, an expert in nuclear science, has a letter to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan. The following is the full text of the letter:

Your Excellency Prime Minister Naoto Kan,

Round 100 years ago, human beings for the first time did see tiny structure deep inside matter called atomic nuclei. Thirty years later, a nuclear reactor was invented to demonstrate that great energy in these tiny structures can be exploited and conquered. But in less than four years afterwards, the fruits of labor and hard work done by hundreds of scientists involved in the Manhattan Project, which were two atomic bombs, were dropped by the U.S. Army on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in an attempt not to force Japan to surrender, but to show destructive power of their nuclear weapons even after the war. The many talented scientists who conceived the two bombs were too powerless to stop the government from causing disasters to Japan.

Since then, people everywhere in the world have associated atomic energy with the atomic bombs which once caused tragic misfortune to humans, which is unfair!

Nuclear power (NP) appeared in fifty decades after the war well cleared itself of this injustice. A positive atmosphere overwhelmed everyone so that very few scientists at that time (including the writer of this letter) thought that one day nuclear power would again bring misfortunes to humans. But it was our habitual subjectivism overconfidence that led to the accident at the Three Mile Island, and a more serious one in Tchernobyl. Nuclear power has to decline before it reaches its heydays. For more than three decades, the USA did not build a single nuclear power plant.

In this context I am very impressed by the Japanese. Despite your tragic sufferings from the two atomic bombs, and despite the fact that the seismic belt is so close to the east coast, most Japanese people are willing to take risks from nuclear power to ensure energy security for the country’s economic. A greatest and most expensive science and technology program of nuclear power has been deployed for several decades. I think the Japanese people accept nuclear power not because they believe everything is perfectly safe as poers groups often boast about. But above all, they believe in the power of Japan’s advanced technology which can minimize the risk of incidents, and if they do occur, their harmful effects will be minimized.

This is their faith in Japan’s experts in nuclear science, who are successors of Japanese tradition, starting with H. Yukawa and Y. Nishina, two scientists who left their great invention of nuclear physics even before the World War II. The next generations have been successful, too, and Japan now has a powerful nuclear human resource, working in its world-leading research centers, institutes and laboratories.

But - Dear Prime Minister - again a nuclear disaster found its way to the Japanese. One hour after the earthquake and tsunami which devastated the Northeast, when hearing power failure from Fukushima plant, you exclaimed: "Here is the real danger." Early the next day, you flew to the site, entered the bunker with radiation-resistant concrete walls and urged TEPCO to carry out the best measures to cope with the accidents. During the days after that, you always appeared on TV, looking tired by the burdens set on your shoulders. I saw you bow before Japan’s national flag and before the audience to express your sorrows. Somehow, I read a reflection on your face: Where does it all come from?

But the sorrow is not just yours. Now, one hundred days of Fukushima accident, everything are clear enough for us to draw lessons for the next step of nuclear power development, when nuclear science celebrates its centennial birthday. Harnessing nuclear energy will never be an easy thing to do. The situations in Fukushima would not have been so bad if Japan's nuclear power system had not been immersed in the symphony "Everything’s perfect" played continuously by the country’s power groups. The true voices were considered as out of tune. Talented scientists in Japan were not asked for consultancy concerning disaster prevention and situation. Japanese scientist Y. Yamaguchi has his famous comment "The earthquake and tsunami were the trigger only, Japan itself created conditions for such a catastrophic event to happen." The biggest lesson learned from Fukushima is that human beings, rather than modern machinery, are the decisive factor to ensure nuclear safety.

Now, with so much of negative, suspicious manipulation of interest groups cornering state agencies has been uncovered, resulting in despair that millions of Japanese people are experiencing, the majority of Japanese people have to say no with nuclear power. As people have lost their confidence. And so, recently in France, you announced to suspend the program to build dozens of new reactors, instead, renewable energy development has been started. Once Japan is committed to promoting renewable energy, it will be a remarkable milestone for the world. I am waiting to see whether this will be a consistent official energy policy of Japan’s government in the future?

Dear Prime Minister,

Fukushima disaster occurred at a time when Vietnam had just launched nuclear power projects. This projects were already in the agenda when you traveled to Vietnam late last year. This massive project was consulted by the Japanese energy groups and encouraged by them during the past ten years. They have been also very generous in inviting many Vietnamese people to visit nuclear power plants in Japan to import the same symphony “Everything’s perfect” into our country. But our country lacks people who master nuclear power technology to launch such an ambitious program to construct dozens of reactors from 2020 to 2030?

So I think it is better to delay the projects over ten years so that Japan can have time to help Vietnam in training and forming teams of proficient professionals, and promoting projects on renewable energy, soon stopping wasteful and inefficient use of energy as it is now. Vietnam lacks electricity, but the contents of this cooperation will help solve the shortage of electricity more efficiently. It is not necessary to rush to nuclear power which may worry people after all that they saw from Fukushima over the past days.

I look forward to your consideration.
I wish you good health.

Sincerely yours.

Pham Duy Hien, Prof. of Nuclear Science
Người dịch: Hoàng Lan