Whatever can go wrong, eventually will go wrong. We have all experienced this from time to time. Why, then, do humans bury their heads in the sand about nuclear energy? True, it’s the cheapest and most efficient type of energy available to man today, but we have recently learned that it’s not failsafe. Despite having the best and brightest scientists doing the engineering, we still cannot overcome the inevitable, so why do we make promises that there is nothing to worry about? Many people are asking about the comparison between Chernobyl and Japan.Thinkquest.com recently said,
“Although the problem at Chernobyl was relatively complex, it can basically be summarized as a mismanaged electrical engineering experiment which resulted in the reactor exploding. The explosion was chemical, driven by gases and steam generated by the core runaway, not by nuclear reactions. Flames, sparks, and chunks of burning material were flying into the air above the unit. These were red-hot pieces of nuclear fuel and graphite. About 50 tons of nuclear fuel evaporated and were released by the explosion into the atmosphere. In addition, about 70 tons were ejected sideways from the periphery of the core. Some 50 tons of nuclear fuel and 800 tons of reactor graphite remained in the reactor vault, where it formed a pit reminiscent of a volcanic crater as the graphite still in the reactor had turned up completely in a few days after the explosion.
The resulting radioactive release was equivalent to ten Hiroshimas. In fact, since the Hiroshima bomb was air-burst–no part of the fireball touched the ground–the Chernobyl release polluted the countryside much more than ten Hiroshimas would have done. Many people died from the explosion and even more from the effects of the radiation later. Still today, people are dying from the radiation caused by the Chernobyl accident. The estimated total number of deaths will be 16,000.
The recent nuclear meltdowns in Japan have similarities and differences from Chernobyl, and scientists tell us that because it was near the sea, the radiation was dispersed, and because the people were well informed, they stayed indoors. However, this catastrophe has brought us all up short. The Japanese assured the world (and so does the U.S.) that their nuclear power plants could withstand extremely large earthquakes, beyond the reasonable expectations of a 7.0. If you read my previous post and saw the chart on the increasing sizes of recent earthquakes, however, you are aware that we are seeing more earthquakes in the 7.0 and 8.0 range, and the recent one in Japan was a 9.0. Even the nuclear scientists admitted that it was beyond anything they could plan for.
If nuclear power plants, which are for good, can cause this much world impact, how much more can nuclear weapons forever change the earth and everything that lives upon it?
The Huffington Post recently published the following:
In Japan, the fear of radiation spreading is connected to the memory of the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki over 65 years ago. Over 100,000 people died from radiation exposure — nearly as many as from the blast. The genetic effects continue down through the generations.
The events at Fukushima remind us of the negligence of nuclear power companies in building nuclear power plants on earthquake fault lines or vulnerable coastlines. But they should also remind us of the even greater negligence of the nuclear weapon states in maintaining their arsenals of 20,000 nuclear weapons — most with yields over 100 times greater than the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs, and many on hair trigger alert, ready to launch within minutes. Any accidental, unauthorized, inadvertent or intentional use today (or tomorrow) would have a catastrophic, widespread, unprecedented and unimaginable impact on humanity and the environment.
States including the US take the position that we should just trust them to take small steps towards nuclear disarmament sometime in an indefinite future. That’s like trusting the nuclear power industry to police itself and voluntarily phase itself out in deference to public safety.
Does the Bible indicate that we will have some sort of worldwide nuclear crisis? I believe it does, in several places, but the one that is most obvious is the 7th seal, the first four trumpet blasts, referred to in Revelation 8:7-13.
“And the first sounded and there came hail and fire (rockets?) mixed with blood (death) and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. And the second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire (atomic bomb?) was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood; and a third of the creatures, which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed. And the third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters; and the name of the star is called Wormwood (contamination); and a third of the waters became wormwood; and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter. And the fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were smitten, so that a third of them might be darkened and the day might not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.”
So a third of the world will be totally devastated by the effects of “whatever” happened. What technology, what poison, or what catastrophe could do that? In my mind, it could either be nuclear warfare or a combination of giant earthquakes and nuclear accidents such as we have seen in Japan. God has demonstrated recently what His mighty power can do, and how one wave of catastrophe can bring on another.
I hope we never see that day, but after the events of the past two weeks in Japan, I think we will. I am motivated more than ever to be sure that my children and grandchildren are prepared. They need to know that God’s ultimate plan is to save His people. They need to be strong to endure what is ahead, fully convinced of the power and love of God to see them through, no matter what happens. Not all will survive physically, but all believers will survive eternally. It will take guts and glory to endure. It is my responsibility to help people understand what to expect, and to help equip them for what might be ahead. Our world is changing so very quickly. If I’ve seen such great change in my lifetime, what will they see in their lifetime? Will we all be able to endure the hardships to come?
We don’t know when the rapture will occur, whether it will be before or after some of these nuclear catastrophes will happen, but we know that they will happen because nothing on this earth will last forever, not even nuclear warheads or nuclear power plants. Will we all be ready when Christ returns? Scripture tells us that He will return to set up His kingdom just when things are the darkest. Thank goodness, Murphy’s Law will not keep Christ’s return from happening, even though man has so messed up this world. Even so, Come, Lord Jesus!”
