This stuff is popping up all over the place. I’m going to put a number up but there is a definite change in the blogosphere from viewing the crisis as serious to viewing the crisis as an imminent catastrophe.
I recommend you watch these two videos.
James Pilant
The view from on the ground in Fukushima.
I will admit I don’t care much for the “fear mongering label.” Japan is likely hour to hour to experience a nuclear crisis more severe than what they have now. This is fact. An unfortunate fact but still a fact.
James Pilant
via Bolsoversion
This looks useful! Have a look at it. If anyone has any thoughts, let me know. I can get some more of this kind of thing or less. Let me know.
James Pilant
via Co2 Insanity
From Associated Press –
Parts of America’s radiation alert network have been out of order during Japan’s nuclear crisis, raising concerns among some lawmakers about whether the system could safeguard the country in a future disaster.
Federal officials say the system of sensors has helped them to validate the impact of nuclear fallout from the overheated Fukushima reactor, and in turn alert local governments and the public. They say no dangerous levels of radiation have reached U.S. shores.
In California, home to two seaside nuclear plants located close to earthquake fault lines, federal authorities said four of the 11 stationary monitors were offline for repairs or maintenance last week. The Environmental Protection Agency said the machines operate outdoors year-round and periodically need maintenance, but did not fix them until a few days after low levels of radiation began drifting toward the mainland U.S.
What do we measure it for anyway? So, the government can explain with a tiny bit more credibility that they have no idea what is happening in Japan but that there is no danger here? The governments both state and local are committed to nuclear power. It doesn’t matter how much radiation is in the air. It’s what is going to be done.
Not to mention the simple fact, that no matter what radiation is out there, we will be assured it is safe and that it couldn’t happen here anyway.
Do you get tired? Does this get old? The Japanese government lies. The Japanese utility company lies. Our government assures us everything is fine. The nuclear industry hires and persuades every half wit hack to write a pro nuclear piece assuring us that everything is just wonderful.
It’s not wonderful. Changes have to be made in the light of what has happened. You cannot dismiss this as an anomaly.
Nuclear power may be a part of America’s energy future, but this is about as far away from an intelligent discussion as can be imagined.
I cannot tell you how many articles I have had to troll through talking the company line. And to make it more thoroughly, wretchedly disgusting, pretending it is their original thinking and work.
When is there going to be a real national debate not based on corporate PR and a generous helping of campaign money? When is there going to be at least an attempt at deciding with reason and judgment what should be done about nuclear power?
James Pilant
CrisisMaven assures me that this is useful information for dealing with contaminated drinking water. So, I pass it on.
James Pilant
The crisis is on a knife’s edge. The media has moved on to the Libyan bombing. Unfortunately, the reactors have not gotten all better. In fact, they’re like drunk, old former professional baseball pitchers throwing curve balls all over the park.
Keep an eye on this stuff, guys. Everyday is a guaranteed surprise.
James Pilant
via markellis4
I don’t trust him. I consider him little more than a cheerleader for the nuclear industry. However, “Future News,” believes he has something significant to say. I’ll go with them on it.
James Pilant
via FUTUREPREDICTIONS.COM Source of Likely and Preferable Futures ™
Could nuclear power be used safely? I’m not sure. But it is clear that the humans managing those reactors cannot be trusted. Corporate PR, governmental incompetence and lies have encompassed the industry from the beginning. It hasn’t gotten any better.
Over and over again we are assured that everything is okay. They can’t melt down. The safety mechanisms are foolproof. The containment vessel cannot be breached. Multiple backup systems insure safety. And then the impossible happens. We are of course immediately assured that this was an unusual event, unprecedented and could never happen here.
It is incredible how many pundits and agencies have rushed to out to defend the nuclear industry in the last few hours.
They come right back. They are already back. It doesn’t matter what happens. It doesn’t matter the warnings ignored, the stupid decisions made or even the scope of the disaster, the nuclear power industry keeps right on going.
Is this it?
Do we live in a nation where business gets its way, no matter what the risk?
From The Guardian (UK):
The timing of the near nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi could not have been more appropriate. In only a few weeks the world will mark the 25th anniversary of the worst nuclear plant disaster ever to affect our planet – at Chernobyl in Ukraine. A major core meltdown released a deadly cloud of radioactive material over Europe and gave the name Chernobyl a terrible resonance.
This weekend it is clear that the name Fukushima came perilously close to achieving a similar notoriety. However, the real embarrassment for the Japanese government is not so much the nature of the accident but the fact it was warned long ago about the risks it faced in building nuclear plants in areas of intense seismic activity. Several years ago, the seismologist Ishibashi Katsuhiko stated, specifically, that such an accident was highly likely to occur. Nuclear power plants in Japan have a “fundamental vulnerability” to major earthquakes, Katsuhiko said in 2007. The government, the power industry and the academic community had seriously underestimated the potential risks posed by major quakes.
The financialization of our society has become so intense, so pervasive, that profit outweighs all other consideration.
I have serious doubts whether a full scale melt down with thousands of dead and a thousands of square miles of land radioactive for generations will stop the industry from building plants in the United States.
In the pursuit of profit, human intelligence and judgment have largely ceased to exist.
Let me explain this once and then I’ll quit. If there is a nuclear melt down, depending on its location there will a lot of deaths or few deaths, a large area will be permanently contaminated (Chernobyl was 10,800 square miles) and useless for any human activity, and lastly, the radiation will spread causing damage to the genetic code of those it touches. The damage to the genetic code will probably be trans generational working its way through all of humanity as we reproduce.
Compare these risks to the power generated and ask yourself if they balance out.
James Pilant
I located this publication. It appears to be from the Department of Homeland Security. It has a rather impressive name. However, it includes a lot of information about radiation that can be released from reactors. It details precautions that people can take and probable effects of the radiation.
NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION PLUME AND POST-PLUME EXERCISES AND INCIDENTS
LIBRARY OF PRESS RELEASES
Here’s an excerpt –
There are two important concepts that help in understanding radiation: exposure and contamination. Both can occur when radioactive materials are released in a power plant emergency.
Exposure: Radioactive materials give off a form of energy that travels in waves or particles. This energy is similar to an x-ray, and can penetrate the body. This exposure ends when the radioactive material is no longer present, for example, after the noble gases disperse. Some of the radioactive material deposited on the ground may also contribute to external exposure. You may hear this referred to as “groundshine.”
Contamination: Contamination occurs when radioactive materials (dusts) are deposited on or in an object or person. External contamination occurs when radioactive material or dust comes into contact with a person’s skin hair or clothing.
People who are externally contaminated can become internally contaminated if radioactive materials get into their bodies. This could happen if people swallow or breathe in radioactive materials. Some types of radioactive materials stay in the body and are deposited in different body organs. Other types are eliminated from the body in blood, sweat, urine, and feces.
Limiting skin contamination: Both external and internal contamination can cause exposure to radioactive materials. Removing contaminated clothing and washing off the radioactive materials will minimize exposure from external contamination.
If you think you have been contaminated, you should:
•
Remove the outer layer of your clothing.
•
Place the clothing in a plastic bag.
•
Wash all of the exposed parts of your body, as you would normally, with soap and warm water. There is no need to scrub.
Do not eat, drink or smoke until you have removed contamination as described above.
This material was written for a small release of radiation, a plume, from an American nuclear power plant. It may not be totally relevant to radiation arriving from a meltdown. However, based on my reading in the area, I believe the information to be useful. Certainly, if you read the full report, you can decide for yourself if it is on point. I think it is.
James Pilant
I don’t know if this is correct. I hope not.
James Pilant
TOKYO (Nikkei)—The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) said Saturday afternoon the explosion at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant could only have been caused by a meltdown of the reactor core.
The same day, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501), which runs the plant, began to flood the damaged reactor with seawater to cool it down, resorting to measures that could rust the reactor and force the utility to scrap it.
Cesium and iodine, by-products of nuclear fission, were detected around the plant, which would make the explosion the worst accident in the roughly 50-year history of Japanese nuclear power generation.
An explosion was heard near the plant’s No. 1 reactor about 3:30 p.m. and plumes of white smoke went up 10 minutes later. The ceiling of the building housing the reactor collapsed, according to information obtained by Fukushima prefectural authorities.
Pilant's Business Ethics Blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.