Interesting. I haven’t heard anything about this in the mainstream media, which of course means nothing except the heads of the principle media corporations do not find it worthy of attention. I will try to keep my eye on it.
JP
via Kinetic Truth
Tag: nuclear
A World with More Men than Women (via Hwaairfan’s Blog)
I like the current one where there are more women than men. But that, of course, is merely my personal preference, I have no practical rationale.
There is something vaguely funny about radiation causing more male births. I’m sure there are a number of good jokes in there. However, it does demonstrate that our genetic structure gets played with when radiation changes in level.
Read the article. It’s fun.
James Pilant
via Hwaairfan's Blog
RED ALERT: Japan’s Nuclear Disaster Is Still In Its Infancy (via The International Perspective)
You may have become tired of my endlessly repeated statement that the Fukushima crisis is a almost daily event which shows no sign of a cure. Here is another writer with the same point of view. There is also an excellent summary of the current situation at the four nuclear plants.
Here are the two key paragraphs from the article –
Fukushima did not happen. Fukusima IS HAPPENING… still.
Unfortunately, the economic containment by Japanese corporations and policy officials could not have been much worse – exacerbated by their deafening silence and sheer communication vacuum of information. Despite this being initiated by a natural disaster of epic proportions, it does not provide cover for the blatant failings of the officials, management and system as a whole. Japanese utilities, and this TEPCO’s Fukushima power plant in particular, were repeatedly warned that they did not have enough tsunami protection. The tsunami did not just tip the scale for breaching defenses, it completely overwhelmed and destroyed them – it was not a marginal miscalculation. Given the pump design-flaws I highlighted earlier, this bodes for more than just an engineering mistake. It is a structural issue within the industry as a whole. This has not been a moment of shining glory for the Japanese utility companies.
It is hard not to be astonished at the level of incompetence of the Japanese government and TEPCO, the Japanese utility in charge. However, the government of the United States and its massive loan gurantees and indemnification of the nuclear industry is acting in an equally bizarre fashion. This is definitely the time to re examine what mix of elements will be used in the future to generate power in the United States.
James Pilant
Bloomberg: Fukushima Radiated Water May Overflow Trenches in Five Days (via Japan Earthquake & Related Info)
This web site covers the Fukushima crisis on a daily basis. If you have any interest in this situation I recommend you subscribe. I do.
James Pilant
Typhoon Approaches Japan, May Threaten Nuclear Plant (via Losing Freedom)
I feel a “Charlie Brown” good grief coming on. Those reactors have been venting radioactive into the sea for weeks now. All those scattered control rods are now going to be rained on and a good number of them have plutonium in them. Does the fun never end? Does this disaster have a half-life as long as one of the isotopes it produces?
Let us hope and pray for a better outcome that is likely.
James Pilant
via Losing Freedom
Questioning Authority in Fukushima (via Jim Grisanzio)
I try to comment for a few paragraphs at least on each post but this writer has an edge I admire. He’s got this story nailed. Please read.
James Pilant
via Jim Grisanzio
Hank D and the Bee: Solar+Wind=____ (via Joe Mohr’s Cartoon Archive)
Whether you believe in solar or wind power, this is a positive, hopeful view of our future and I like those; I like them a lot.
About forty years ago, something went terribly wrong in the United States, it became the governmental fashion to avoid even attempting to solve real problems. Now, we just kick the can down the road and hope something good will happen. The Congress waits until enough contributions, enough lobbyists congregate, and then solves corporate money problems with no consideration of the wider effects.
Under these circumstances, it is hard to see a positive future. But this is a great country and it is still capable of great things.
James Pilant
“We don’t need nuclear plants” in Kamakura (via Japan Nuclear Crisis)
Kanagawa Prefecture is just below Tokyo. Perhaps it is a cultural stereotype, but I consider the Japanese to be much more passive about these things than Americans and Americans much more passive than Europeans.
But there is always something salutary about people marching for their beliefs. It’s a democratic thing.
James Pilant
Coming Clean about Nuclear Power (via boltonnewyork)
I like this article. It is skeptical but willing to ask a lot of hard questions. I’m willing to give nuclear energy a chance to be part of our nation’s future plans but only if I can trust the industry. So, you can pretty sure I’m opposed to any nuclear plant development since that condition cannot be met. The industry track record is clear. I’ve been pounded with lies, half-truths and assurances that bore no resemblance to reality. Whether or not you believe that the damage caused by the various nuclear incidents justifies abandoning nuclear power, surely you can see that the industry’s credibility is gone?
Not only do we have to contend with industry PR so thin, that the smallest child can see through it, we have the problem of governments being industry captives blurting out even worse nonsense. In the United States, there has been no real changes in planning caused by Fukushima. It’s as if a car of identical make to yours disintegrated on the highway but you just go ahead driving yours.
But there’s more. Disagree with a future of nuclear energy and you get to meet up with the dogs of war, the partisans of a nuclear future. They believe several things – 1) if you are opposed to nuclear energy you are some left leaning tree hugger, 2) you just don’t understand because you’re blinded by anti nuclear propaganda, 3) you don’t grasp the critical need for nuclear power since all the other sources of energy are flawed, and (my very favorite) 4) radiation is all around us, we get it in chest x-rays, scanners in our airports, granite taken from deep in the earth has radiation in it, therefore all of these concerns about radiation are overblown.
This article is intelligent and asks some critical questions, like why is our evacuation zones in case of nuclear accident only ten miles while in Japan a much larger zone was found necessary? That’s a good question.
Let’s hope for more posts from this author.
James Pilant
via boltonnewyork
Potassium Iodide and Radiation (via Rhoda’s Natural Health Blog)
I have written about potassium iodide before (re-blogged a good source on it). But this is very good. It not only discusses potassium iodide but many other health related issues. I find the author to good at the craft of writing and very well-informed in these matters.
I am not medically or scientifically trained. In this case, I am happy to defer to an expert.
James Pilant
My thanks to Rhoda’s Natural Health Blog.
Pilant's Business Ethics Blog 
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