October 5, 1967
One year anniversary of the Fermi disaster
A year ago, few people had ever heard of the Fermi atomic power plant, near Detroit, Michigan. Today, one year after history’s worst nuclear accident, the name has become synonymous with death, radiation sickness, the fear of cancer, and genetic damage. [1]
The meltdown of Fermi has changed the area irrevocably. The nearby town of Monroe has become a ghost town. It remains closed off from all but military and cleanup personnel; even former residents are not allowed to return. Street upon street of houses sit abandoned, looking much as they did one year ago, though noticeably overgrown. Cars left behind by their owners rust away in fenced-off parking lots. Near the plant, stands of pines have turned a sickly reddish-brown, killed by radioactivity. [2]
The Fermi site itself remains quite busy. Workers have hauled away many thousands of tons of radioactive soil from the area, and the containment structure that surrounds what remains of the Fermi plant is now complete. [2] The concrete barrier between the plant and Lake Erie is reportedly still under construction.
The disaster has had a toll on those living near and downwind of it. While most of those displaced in Michigan and Ontario have found permanent housing, many still struggle to make ends meet. Contamination of livestock and crops grown in Ontario has led to the ruin of many Canadian farmers, and many Canadians believe that Canada was not fairly compensated by the American government. Across the Great Lakes region, people fear for their health and that of their children.
However, a recently published study suggests the risk of cancer from Fermi may be less than originally feared. Recently completed by the Atomic Energy Commission, the study concluded that radioactivity from the Fermi disaster would cause about 1,000 extra cancer deaths within the United States between now and the year 2017. For comparison, about 30 million Americans will likely succumb to “natural cancers” in the same time period. [3] However, this study did not include Canada, which is believed to have received most of the fallout.
Across Europe, nuclear plants are closing and plans for new plants are being scrapped. Important political parties have turned against nuclear power, while governments assure their citizens that they are doing everything in their power to maximize plant safety. However, the catastrophe’s impact on public opinion has been less than many had predicted. Opinion polls in many countries show that public opposition to nuclear power has already receded to pre-Fermi levels. The disaster has brought no major overhaul in nuclear plant technology, and large nuclear programs continue to grow without major protest. [4]
Despite the global wave of opposition, atomic power programs continue in many countries. A few days ago, Japan established the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation [5] to conduct atomic research. While atomic energy is controversial with the Japanese public (having survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 22 years ago), the government believes that nuclear power is the only viable option to support a booming economy in a resource-poor nation. In the Soviet Union, construction of new plants continues unabated under the belief in the superiority of the designs of their plants.