Tag: meltdown

There Are Holes In U.S. Radiation Monitoring Stations

On By southwerkIn business ethics3 Comments

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

 

Japan reactor crisis on a knife’s edge, expert warns (via markellis4)

On By southwerkIn business ethics2 Comments

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

Japan reactor crisis on a knife’s edge, expert warns After workers at the troubled Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant were hospitalized yesterday, Japan’s prime minister cited his grave concerns about the unfolding crisis. One nuclear expert believes the situation is close to the point of no return, which could mean a catastrophe larger than Chernobyl. “This is huge,” Physicist Michio Kaku PhD, a professor at City University of New York, told David Muir on Good Morning America. “For the first time, the … Read More

via markellis4

Future News: Is the Worst Over for Japan and the Nuclear Industry? As Energy Secretary Steven Chu Comments (via FUTUREPREDICTIONS.COM Source of Likely and Preferable Futures ™)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

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

Future News: Is the Worst Over for Japan and the Nuclear Industry? As Energy Secretary Steven Chu Comments Photo Source Energy Secretary Steven Chu on preventing a nuclear meltdown and whether U.S. plants can withstand natural disasters. … Read More

via FUTUREPREDICTIONS.COM Source of Likely and Preferable Futures ™

Japan ministers ignored safety warnings over nuclear reactors (via The Guardian)

On By southwerkIn business ethics
From Wikipedia

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

What to Do if Radiation from Japan Arrives in the United States

On By southwerkIn business ethics

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

Meltdown Caused Nuke Plant Explosion: Safety Body (via Nikkei.com)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

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.

Industry Press Release for Nuclear Power

On By southwerkIn business ethics

In Japan, a nuclear plant was damaged by an earthquake. It’s cooling system went off line. The back up diesel power system to maintain the cooling system failed. The building housing the nuclear reactor exploded.

However, this is how nuclear power was described at the opening of a new plant.

From STPNOC press release – (PRINCETON, NJ, September 24, 2007)

“It is a new day for energy in America. Advanced technology nuclear power plants like STP 3 and 4, generating a vast amount of electricity cleanly, safely and reliably, will make an enormous contribution toward the greater energy security of the United States,” said David Crane, NRG’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “But equally, this announcement heralds a new day for the environment. Advanced nuclear technology is the only currently viable large-scale alternative to traditional coal-fueled generation to produce none of the traditional air emissions—and most importantly in this age of climate change—no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases.”

From further down in the press release –

“This is an historic event for the future of nuclear power in America. Around the world, consumers are benefiting from clean, efficient nuclear power. Finally, as a result of years of hard work, our nation is now on the verge of taking greater advantage of this technology.  I’m excited to see an investor-owned company submit the first combined operating license application in nearly 30 years, and I hope it is the first of many to come,” said United States Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM), who serves as ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

A little further –

“Nuclear power is an essential component of any comprehensive national energy plan,” said United States Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.). “It has been 20 years since we have built a nuclear power plant, and it is long past time that we build a new one. According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, 35 new nuclear power plants are needed in the next 40 years to keep pace with our escalating energy demand. A new power plant in Texas will prove to help combat the impact of global climate change and allow America to continue on a path toward energy independence.”

And here is the reality of nuclear power –

The Reality of Nuclear Power (via bharatian)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

David Lochbaum delivers a devastating take down of the arguments for building nuclear reactors in the United States.

His analysis of the safety concerns is something that should have been more widely read.

James Pilant

The Reality of Nuclear Power The Reality of Nuclear Power   Speech at Syracuse University, October 20, 1999 David Lochbaum. Good evening. My name is David Lochbaum. I have been the Nuclear Safety Engineer for Union of Concerned Scientists for the past three years. Prior to joining UCS, I worked for over 17 years as a nuclear engineer in the nuclear industry. Between 1992 and 1995, I was a consultant to the New York Power Authority working pr … Read More

via bharatian

Is Nuclear Power a Clean/Green Technology? (via Gas-Engineless Machines)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

One of our prophets.

Nuclear power was never a good idea.

James Pilant

Switzerland, my other home country, is in the midst of an energy discussion that transports me back to the 70s: Whether or not to build nuclear power plants. I was a teenager when this discussion raged in and around Basel because authorities were planning on building a nuclear power station about thirty kilometers away. They were sit ins, demonstrations, and a huge movement against nuclear power. On the other hand, there was the nuclear power ind … Read More

via Gas-Engineless Machines