Mansions Without Toilets

Writing in the Believers' Column of the Catholic Times a religious sister talks about a village in which she was assigned many years ago, It was a petrochemical and industrial complex where many migrant workers lived in the 1990s.

The migrant workers have left and it has become a place for people living in poverty: the elderly, disabled, the poor without credit, in difficult economic conditions, coming in search of cheap rent. Also, the old houses are being destroyed and small and medium factories entering, the place, is somewhat desolate, but it is also a place where the voice of seniors sharing warmth in the small gardens separating the houses.

However, there are dangers with which the residents are not familiar. Greenhouse gas emitted daily from nearby industrial complexes, not only has poor air quality but also within the 30km radius of this village, we have nuclear power plants and are always exposed to the danger of nuclear accidents. After 6 pm, this area with little electricity usage carries the risk of nuclear radiation from high-voltage electricity production to Seoul and other large cities.

Currently, the convent where the sister lives is located in the most central area in Seoul, and the surrounding large buildings and street lights are on all night, and the light is so bright that she can live a basic life with the light of the next building without turning on the lights in her room. Ironically, the place with the most electricity use is more than 300 km from the nuclear power. Living in such circumstances for a year allowed her to think about energy and electricity.

She quotes a Japanese nuclear chemist who said that nuclear waste cannot be processed within the earth's limited time, a pioneer against nuclear expansion. Nuclear energy was likened to 'a mansion apartment without a toilet'. Nuclear power is a technology that attempts to destroy the stability of the atomic nucleus with the introduction of foreign matter. It is essentially incompatible with the principles of life on earth. We have seen the results in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Chernobyl.

In this way, a nuclear power plant can be considered as the epitome of generational egoism making the future generations deal with nuclear waste for more than 100,000 years. During a visit to Japan in 2019, Pope Francis said, "Humanity should not go against the natural rules set by God." He compared the "Nuclear Power Plant" to the "Babel Tower," a symbol of self-destruction caused by human greed. In a meeting with victims of the nuclear accident in Fukushima in January, he said, "We must realize that we have a great responsibility for future generations."

By the time this article was submitted, the results of the referendum in the Ulsan area of the country were not known but it was recently released and the citizens voted overwhelmingly against building more nuclear waste disposal systems ('macstor' systems) in the Ulsan area. The present government has gone on record to gradually decrease the dependence on nuclear energy.

Lastly, she appeals to the villagers who have little electricity."We, Seoul citizens with a lot of electricity, are eager to join you in halting the construction of the nuclear dump site!!!"