Sure, his opinion may have been published in the Spiegel (The German People’s Cube), but this otherwise reasonable and balanced assessment of nuclear energy in the New Age of Post-Fukushima Germany has some major flaws in it, all of them having to do with thinking it possible that the German response to Fukushima could ever be “thoughtful and considered, instead of emotional and political.”

Many people have already formed solid opinions and only take into account what supports their views. (This is called confirmation bias, by the way.) But many of these beliefs are irrational and only fed by the many figures, measurements and limits being made public, which hardly anyone can make sense of.

This can be seen very clearly in the current situation in Fukushima. The Americans have recommended that all citizens evacuate the area within an 80-kilometer (50-mile) radius of the stricken power plant. The Germans have moved their embassy to Osaka. Even people who are really well informed have left Tokyo in the belief that you can never be careful enough.

Though I can understand this reasoning, it’s wrong. What’s more, it sends a devastating message to the Japanese who have to stay. They have started to distrust their own government, and fear is spreading. This is a terrible side effect of this excessive concern — and the panicked reaction — in Germany.

Indeed, it is clear that the major long-term issues with an accident at a nuclear power station are not medical; instead, they are political, psychological and economic. Given these circumstance, the German response to the Fukushima accident needs to be thoughtful and considered, instead of emotional and political. It should be based on a consideration of energy needs for the next several decades and a careful assessment of benefits and risks of alternative energy sources. If such an analysis is done, I suspect nuclear energy will come out in a favorable light.

PS: Thanks for your comment on How do you keep the hysteria going?, A.K. Strange how that very thought crossed my mind too. More people died in this one smashup than have died (or most likely will die) due to the Fukushima catastrophe. You don’t and won’t see anybody getting hysterical here about driving too fast because of this (speed is always involved in accidents like this).