Confessions of a Nuclear Power Safety Expert
Nuclear engineer Cesare Silvi studied unlikely outside threats to nuclear plants in Italy, which soured him on the energy source and caused him to go solar.
By John Perlin
When Italy decided in the mid-’70s to add nuclear power to its power portfolio, young mechanical and nuclear engineer Cesare Silvi was among those attracted to the opportunities it presented. His work centered on nuclear safety issues — in particular, what might happen if something unexpected struck a power plant.
Corners he saw cut there eventually soured Silvi on that endeavor. His next position — at the Italian Commission on Nuclear and Alternative Energy Sources, which included work on nuclear disarmament — eventually soured him on nuclear energy itself.
“ continue with nuclear power, there will definitely be worse accidents,” he argued in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi disaster. Over the weekend, Italian voters agreed and overwhelming rejected restarting nuclear power in their country.
“Why not consider Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima as warnings of greater catastrophes to come and avoid the inevitable by shutting them down, much like changing your diet and/or lifestyle after finding out that your cholesterol or blood pressure is elevated, rather than continuing down the same path until a heart attack or stroke strikes?”
In the meantime, he suggests...
http://www.miller-mccune.com/science/confessions-of-a-nuclear-power-safety-expert-32220/It looks like his work is paying off as Silvi is now president of the International Solar Energy Society.
In 2005 Italy begin installation of solar and by 2009 they were up to 1 GW of cumulative installed capacity; which produces about 1/4th the average annual output of 1 nuclear power plant.
But 2009 was the year they implemented their new policies for solar and by the end of 2010 they were up to 3.4 GW of cumulative installed capacity; which produces about 85% of the average annual output of 1 nuclear power plant.
Not bad in 2 years, but that was apparently just a prelude because by the end of July this year they had installed another 5.5 GW; raising to 9 GW the cumulative installed capacity and producing an amount of electricity equivalent to the average annual output of 2.25 nuclear power plants.
That is 1.4 nuclear power plants in 7 months.
If we want to leave carbon behind safely, the path couldn't be more clearly marked.
Source:
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2011/08/lessons-learned-italys-solar-rise-and-the-path-ahead?cmpid=SolarNL-Tuesday-August30-2011 
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