One of the things I wanted to write here is this. I've been reading and listening about this for some time now after the disaster in Japan. After this disaster everyone temporarily became an armchair nuclear physicist. People's opinion seems to split into two, either yes or no. I still can't put my thoughts together, but I think I'm on the yes side. I'm talking about nuclear power. I think we should support this source of energy because it's the lesser of the four (or five) other renewable 'evils'.
Solar energy would be perfect, but it's inefficient and expensive. It would be good only when you have this source of energy in abundance. In the UK? Forget it. Wind power is also a good idea but it really is for a niche market like California Desert where nobody would be bothered about constant humming noise. Hydro generation is ok but as long as you have powerful rivers and you don't mind its effect on nature. The main problem about these renewables is they don't produce enough electricity for everyone. Not good enough for national grid unless smart grid takes off.
The other option is, of course, fossil fuel. This includes coal, oil, and gas, and everyone knows that it's the major cause of the production of carbon dioxide. There are simply no other realistic, clean, cheap, and harmless solution to large-scale energy supply than nuclear power.
OK, there was meltdown in Fukushima, but these six reactors were more than 40 years old and crappy, and they were under enormous financial constraints. I find it amazing that they were hit by this colossal earthquake and gigantic tsunami and only (?!) three reactors had meltdown. There are more than 50 reactors in Japan and just under half of them are located on the east coast of Japan. Nothing went wrong with them.
To be continued...
Now lighter subject - lovely salad. It's a shame that fennel is not really available in Japan where I originally come from. Vegetable growers in Japan should look into this.
Ingredients (for 2 people):
1 fennel, very thinly sliced
1 orange, peeled and segmented
handful of green olives
handful of rocket leaves
tablespoon of olive oil
Put the sliced fennel into a bowl and sprinkle a pinch or two of salt. Mix everything well and leave for 2-3 minutes. This technique with vegetables is called 'Shio momi' (salt massage) in Japan and helps to make them crunchy and less aggressive in your mouths. Squeeze extra liquid that seeps out from fennel and put it in another salad bowl. Mix with the rest of the ingredients gently and salt and pepper to taste.