Kaitlynn's Interview

I chose to interview my friend Marissa Campbell about the issue. I've been talking to her a lot and I haven't heard anything from her about environmental issues, so I was curious. After interviewing her, I found that she had no idea about Fukushima and that she had only heard about it. Here's the interview:
Me(Kaitlynn): What do you know about Fukushima?
Marissa: Nothing really. Heard of it. I don't have any true knowledge of it.
Me: Okay, so Fukushima is a city in Japan which had different nuclear plants. Three of them blew up at once almost one right after the other. The people around are still suffering from it, and the radiation is absolutely awful. After the explosion some of our navy tried to sail past fukushima and they took in 2 months worth of radiation in 10 minutes.
Marissa: Oh gosh.
Me: What do you know about nuclear power?
Marissa: I believe that it can easily harm humans. I don't pay attention to these things because of my small interest in them.
Me: What do you know about the pros and cons of nuclear power?
Marissa: It can help people. It can harm people and the area surrounding it.
Me: Do you know how it can help people, and how it can harm people and the area surrounding it?
Marissa: Nope.
Me: Okay, so it can help people because, despite it actually being extremely dangerous, it's clean energy. There's no gas involved, or burning or anything like that. It's basically forcing nuclei apart, then cooling them down with water and that produces steam. It harms people when it gets out of hand and can't be controlled and explodes. It can also harm the people who are involved with keeping it under control. As it released very, very little radiation but if you're right next to it, it's a lot worse than outside of the building. So, is nuclear power worth it?
Marissa: Yes and no. Yes, because it could help us save energy. No because of the damage it can cause to us and the world around us.
Me: What can we do instead of nuclear power to stay clean?
Marissa: Try to get people to commit to a cleaner lifestyle.
Me: So before I can ask my next question, I need to tell you about how the government handled the situation. The Japanese government spent a lot of time cleaning up the explosion without telling the people and worrying them. They cleaned as much as they could before they told the people, then there were more explosions and they had to tell them immediately. After hearing more about Fukushima, do you think they handled the situation well?
Marissa: No. They should have told people right away.
Me: How could they have handled the situation better?
Marissa: By telling people right away and making sure of their safety and by taking more precautions.
Me: Were you in favor of nuclear power before you heard about Fukushima?
Marissa: I didn't know much about it to form an opinion.
Me: Are you in favor of nuclear power after hearing about Fukushima?
Marissa: If they are able to do a better job of controlling it, yes. If not, no.
Me: What should people do in order to make nuclear power safer?
Marissa: Take whatever precautions necessary and give people more information beforehand.

My Reaction:

I thought it was really interesting how little Marissa knew about the issue I've heard so much about. It just goes to show how much some people don't know about it, and other important issues. I think that the more people know about the issue the more people will care enough to help stabilize nuclear power.