flap your lips friday
Posted by Michelle Moquin on March 18th, 2011
The focus has been on Japan, on almost every news and media outlet. And probably just like you, my focus has been there too. Everything that you wanted to know about nuclear reactors, but were too afraid to ask, you now know.
So…taking the focus away from Japan for a moment…just what is happening in your neighborhood? I’ve barely had a moment to think about that question. But it’s something we do need to address. We’ve got nuclear reactors in many states in the U.S. And California has them too. In fact we’ve got the most nuclear reactors here than any other country.
Just how safe are we?
This article came across my plate, and what I read, I didn’t like one bit.
At California Nuclear Plant, Earthquake Response Plan Not Required
As the world’s attention remains focused on the nuclear calamity unfolding in Japan, American nuclear regulators and industry lobbyists have been offering assurances that plants in the United States are designed to withstand major earthquakes.
But the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, which sits less than a mile from an offshore fault line, was not required to include earthquakes in its emergency response plan as a condition of being granted its license more than a quarter of a century ago. Though experts warned from the beginning that the plant would be vulnerable to an earthquake, asserting 25 years ago that it required an emergency plan as a condition of its license, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission fought against making such a provision mandatory as it allowed the facility to be built.
Officials at Pacific Gas and Electric Company, the utility that operates Diablo Canyon, did not respond to calls seeking comment before the story was published. After publication, a spokesman for the company said the plant does have an earthquake procedure that had been implemented during a 2003 earthquake near the facility, and that staff are trained to respond. The company did not provide further details upon request.
As Americans absorb the spectacle of a potential nuclear meltdown in Japan — one of the world’s most proficient engineering powers — the regulatory review that ultimately enabled Diablo Canyon to be built without an earthquake response plan amplifies a gnawing question: Could the tragedy in Japan happen at home?
Experts who recall how the California plant came to be erected offer a disconcerting answer: Yes. And some are calling for more urgent government action to review safety at nuclear plants across the country.
“What they’re displaying now is exactly what was wrong in the past with the nuclear establishment, which is that they didn’t have their priorities right,” said Victor Gilinsky, who served on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission during the Diablo Canyon debate and agreed with the call for greater attention to earthquakes in emergency plans. “They’re more concerned about the protection of the plants, and installation of further plants, than they are about public safety. The president should be saying, ‘I want every single plant reviewed.’”
Back when the California plant was being finalized in the mid-1980s, local activists and environmental lawyers sued the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in an effort to slow the project, arguing that the clear risks from earthquakes nearby required additional planning.
The case made its way to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., where a 5-4 majority — including current Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and former Clinton independent counsel Kenneth Starr — ruled that earthquakes did not have to be included in the plant’s emergency response plans.
The underlying theory was that the plant’s design, which came after years of planning and geological studies, could withstand any foreseeable earthquake in the area — the same assumption that guided thinking in Japan.
“What they’re saying is that there could be an earthquake, but in no way could it ever cause a radioactive release at the same time,” said Rochelle Becker, who led the San Luis Obispo, Calif., group that first sued the Nuclear Regulatory Commission over earthquake preparedness in the 1980s. “I’m pretty sure we now have evidence that it does.”
A spokeswoman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission confirmed that the Diablo Canyon plant is not required to have an emergency response plan specifically for earthquake-triggered releases because the commission is satisfied that the plant’s structure will be able to withstand an earthquake in the area — calculated as a maximum magnitude of 7.5. But she said that should not imply that the plant lacks an overall emergency response plan.
Officials at Tokyo Electric Co., the operator of Japan’s stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant, said over the weekend that the strongest earthquake they had anticipated was much lower than the magnitude-9.0 quake that struck last Friday.
“That’s a lesson that we ignore at our own peril, because we could be wrong, too,” said Joel Reynolds, the attorney who originally brought the case against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and who is now a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council in California. “It is a story as old as science that we’re always learning new things. We’re always discovering the unexpected.”
Critics have raised particular questions about how a standard emergency response to a nuclear disaster could be complicated if it had been caused by an earthquake, where roads and other surrounding infrastructure would also be impaired.
The NRC spokeswoman said that all plants are required to have an overall emergency response plan in place, regardless of what triggers an emergency. At Diablo Canyon, she said there are sensors to alert employees to shut down the plant if tremors are felt, the spokeswoman said. Then depending on the circumstances, the plant would alert local authorities, who would handle questions such as how evacuations would be handled.
“All our plants are designed to withstand significant natural phenomena like earthquakes, tornadoes and tsunamis,” the commission’s chairman, Gregory B. Jaczko, said earlier this week. “We believe we have a very solid and strong regulatory infrastructure in place now.” He added that the commission would “continue to take new information and see if there are changes that we need to make with our program.”
Michael Mariotte, the executive director of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, a group critical of the nuclear industry and the regulatory process, said the pushback on earthquake response planning years ago reflects an environment where the industry is helped along by regulators.
“That’s the logic behind a lot of our nuclear regulation, unfortunately, is that it’s designed to accommodate the operation of a plant, and not necessarily the protection of the public,” Mariotte said. “If they acknowledged that an earthquake occurred that damaged the plant, then they’re also acknowledging that an earthquake has damaged the transportation infrastructure, that you can’t get people out properly, that the plant doesn’t work, and then it can’t be approved.”
At the time the Diablo Canyon case was being litigated in the mid-1980s, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the electric utility looking to build the plant had been dealing with more than a decade’s worth of federal and state reviews for the facility. Federal regulators were comfortable with their seismic reviews of the remote coastal area between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Comments made during closed meetings, later released to the public, showed that some NRC commissioners were concerned that additional public hearings surrounding the emergency response plan and earthquakes would slow the process further.
“One of the things that I think makes me shy away often from hearings is because as soon as we hear the word ‘hearing,’ you see so much time elapse that it maybe over-influences one,” then-NRC Chairman Nunzio J. Palladino, who has since passed away, said at the time. “I do feel that at this late stage, requiring a delay while we wait for a hearing is not in the best national interest.”
When the case involving earthquake response was eventually litigated all the way to the federal appeals court in D.C., which ultimately sided with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the five-member majority noted that there had already been extensive review of seismic activity around the plant.
“We can think of no potential natural or unnatural hazards, regardless of their improbability, that the Commission would not be required to consider,” failed Reagan Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork wrote in an opinion for the appellate court. “That is a prescription for licensing proceedings that never end and plants that never generate electricity.”
The four dissenting judges, including current Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, noted: “The very purpose of the exercise is to plan for the unthinkable eventuality that the design safeguards will not prevent an accident.”
“It defies common sense to exclude evidence about the complicating effects of earthquakes from a proceeding dealing with how to respond to a nuclear accident at a plant located three miles from an active fault, a plant in which seismic concerns dominated the design and construction proceedings for well over a decade,” the justices wrote.
In recent years, the utility that operates Diablo Canyon, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, has recently found another fault line less than a mile from the plant after conducting research with the U.S. Geological Survey. The plant’s original design had accounted for a fault that was farther offshore — about three miles from the plant.
The spokeswoman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Lara Uselding, said the utility has not found evidence that the newly discovered fault line would pose a risk to the plant. The commission is currently reviewing the company’s geological report.
….
Readers: The status quo has been “profit over people”. Now we are privy to to the term “protection of plants” over “protection of people”. Just where are our priorities? What is wrong with our society? Why would you ever rule that earthquakes do not have to be included in the plant’s emergency response plans?
You can say it’s not needed…it’s not necessary. But then, our actions, or lack of them, always comes back and bites us in the butt. We are constantly cleaning up our messes because we never quite prepare for the worst. We cut corners for profits and we the people suffer. Katrina, BP Deep Water Horizon, etc. Now Japan. What’s next? Is it too much to say, “Thank you bought and paid for Scalia and Starr for making that ruling”? I don’t think so.
Is it too much to ask that we get off of our lazy asses and do something? Is it too much to ask that we be responsible for our own livelihood, and support the livelihood of all? I don’t think so. It all starts by getting involved, staying informed, and fighting for what’s right for all? The problem is, racism is always thrown into the mix. Or perhaps I should say racism is why people, (whites) don’t think in terms of “all”.
We have a lot to do in the months ahead of us. Big corporate America is killing us. And the republican party is their partner in crime. They are out to kill us too. And I don’t think I’m being to harsh here. Both of them need to be crushed. They have no interest in the livelihood of anyone but them and theirs: White America.
You could say that we are in a fight for our own survival. What are you going to do?
Robert: I like what you wrote. It’s unfortunate that the people who could convince white America to be proactive instead of reactive, are the ones in power who not only care more about profits than people, but are racist, and only looking out for them and theirs. They are not concerned about all, therefore they can lead the stupid people to follow their own self-aggrandizing agenda, and the people will simply follow in a daze.
If racism is so strong as we know it is, if we are reactive instead of proactive, and if no terrible experience is sufficient enough for us to change our ways, just what needs to happen that will make us change? I have to have faith that something can and will happen. It’s just going to take a lot of effort and everyone must get involved…everyone must care about each other, and start seeing and treating all of the people on this planet as One, as World Citizens. Possible?
I’m done flapping. Your turn. Blog me.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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March 18th, 2011 at 9:51 am
Michelle I just read this on yesterday’s blog. I looked at the entry and thought it should be included here also. Hope you won’t mind.
Thanks Carrie for the Info:
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Carrie Says:
March 18th, 2011 at 9:44 am
Once more the Legislature of the US is on the take and are bought off by an industry. This time they have been purchased to allow the food industry.
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Food dyes are one of the most widely used and dangerous additives. While the European Union has recently placed regulations on labeling food dyes to inform consumers of the health risks, the United States has no such requirement.
Here are some of the most common food dyes used today, according to the Food Freedom Network:
Blue #1 (Brilliant Blue)
An unpublished study suggested the possibility that Blue 1 caused kidney tumors in mice. What it’s in: Baked goods, beverages, desert powders, candies, cereal, drugs, and other products.
Blue #2 (Indigo Carmine)
Causes a statistically significant incidence of tumors, particularly brain gliomas, in male rats. What it’s in: Colored beverages, candies, pet food, & other food and drugs.
Citrus Red #2
It’s toxic to rodents at modest levels and caused tumors of the urinary bladder and possibly other organs. What it’s in: Skins of Florida oranges.
Green #3 (Fast Green)
Caused significant increases in bladder and testes tumors in male rats. What it’s in: Drugs, personal care products, cosmetic products except in eye area, candies, beverages, ice cream, sorbet; ingested drugs, lipsticks, and externally applied cosmetics.
Red #3 (Erythrosine)
Recognized in 1990 by the FDA as a thyroid carcinogen in animals and is banned in cosmetics and externally applied drugs. What it’s in: Sausage casings, oral medication, maraschino cherries, baked goods, candies.
Red #40 (Allura Red)
This is the most-widely used and consumed dye. It may accelerate the appearance of immune-system tumors in mice. It also causes hypersensitivity (allergy-like) reactions in some consumers and might trigger hyperactivity in children. What it’s in: Beverages, bakery goods, dessert powders, candies, cereals, foods, drugs, and cosmetics.
Yellow #5 (Tartrazine)
Yellow 5 causes sometimes-severe hypersensitivity reactions and might trigger hyperactivity and other behavioral effects in children. What it’s in: Pet foods, numerous bakery goods, beverages, dessert powders, candies, cereals, gelatin desserts, and many other foods, as well as pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
Yellow #6 (Sunset Yellow)
Caused adrenal tumors in animals and occasionally causes severe hypersensitivity reactions. What it’s in: Color bakery goods, cereals, beverages, dessert powders, candies, gelatin deserts, sausage, cosmetics and drugs.
Sources:
Food Freedom Network February 3, 2011
Center for Science in the Public Interest “Food Dyes: A Rainbow of Risks” (PDF)
Dr. Mercola’s Comments:
Every year, food manufacturers pour 15 million pounds of artificial food dyes into U.S. foods — and that amount only factors in eight different varieties, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).
These dyes are so common in U.S. foods — especially kids’ foods — that parents don’t think twice about giving their children rainbow-colored cereal or fluorescent blue “juice,” and adults don’t consider bright orange cheese puffs out of the ordinary, either.
But you might do a double take if these food packages contained warnings detailing what these artificial food colorings may really be doing to your health, and that of your children.
Well, in the European Union at least, they do. As of July 2010, most foods in the EU that contain artificial food dyes were labeled with warning labels stating the food “may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.” The British government also asked that food manufacturers remove most artificial colors from foods back in 2009.
In the United States, however, consumers are still snatching up artificially colored foods with fervor, as most are completely unaware of the risks involved … and let me just say, hyperactivity in children is only the tip of the iceberg.
Cancer and Other Serious Risks from Food Dyes Revealed
In CSPI’s summary of studies on food dyes, you can see that some of the most commonly used food dyes may be linked to numerous forms of cancer. CSPI reported:
“The three most widely used dyes, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6, are contaminated with known carcinogens … Another dye, Red 3, has been acknowledged for years by the Food and Drug Administration to be a carcinogen, yet is still in the food supply.”
In their 58-page report, “Food Dyes: A Rainbow of Risks,” CSPI revealed that nine of the food dyes currently approved for use in the United States are linked to health issues ranging from cancer and hyperactivity to allergy-like reactions — and these results were from studies conducted by the chemical industry itself.
For instance, Red # 40, which is the most widely used dye, may accelerate the appearance of immune-system tumors in mice, while also triggering hyperactivity in children.
Blue # 2, used in candies, beverages, pet foods and more, was linked to brain tumors. And Yellow 5, used in baked goods, candies, cereal and more, may not only be contaminated with several cancer-causing chemicals, but it’s also linked to hyperactivity, hypersensitivity and other behavioral effects in children.
As CSPI reported:
“Almost all the toxicological studies on dyes were commissioned, conducted, and analyzed by the chemical industry and academic consultants. Ideally, dyes (and other regulated chemicals) would be tested by independent researchers.
Furthermore, virtually all the studies tested individual dyes, whereas many foods and diets contain mixtures of dyes (and other ingredients) that might lead to additive or synergistic effects.
In addition to considerations of organ damage, cancer, birth defects, and allergic reactions, mixtures of dyes (and Yellow 5 tested alone) cause hyperactivity and other behavioral problems in some children.
… Because of those toxicological considerations, including carcinogenicity, hypersensitivity reactions, and behavioral effects, food dyes cannot be considered safe.
The FDA should ban food dyes, which serve no purpose other than a cosmetic effect, though quirks in the law make it difficult to do so (the law should be amended to make it no more difficult to ban food colorings than other food additives).
In the meantime, companies voluntarily should replace dyes with safer, natural colorings.”
Remember Why Food Colorings are Added to Foods in the First Place …
If you need further incentive to ditch artificially colored foods from your diet, remember the reason they’re added to processed foods in the first place: to make a food that would otherwise be an off-colored mess look appealing.
When foods are processed not only are valuable nutrients lost and fibers removed, but the texture, natural variation and flavors are lost also. After processing, what’s actually left behind is a bland, uninteresting “pseudo-food” that most people would find entirely unappetizing.
So at this point, food manufacturers must add back in the nutrients, flavor, color and texture in order to make them desirable, and this is why they become loaded with food additives.
Most commonly, additives are included to:
Slow spoilage
Prevent fats and oils from becoming rancid or developing an off-flavor
Prevent cut fruits from turning brown
Fortify or enrich the food with synthetic vitamins and minerals (which are lost during processing)
Improve taste, texture and appearance
In the case of kids’ foods, bright colors are also added to attract kids’ attention and make the foods appear “fun.” But in most cases, if a food comes in an outrageous color that is not found in nature, consuming it is not a good idea.
Take one carefully designed, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study published in the journal The Lancet.
It concluded that a variety of common food dyes, and the preservative sodium benzoate — found in many soft drinks, fruit juices and salad dressings — do in fact cause some children to become measurably more hyperactive and distractible.
The study also found that the E-numbered food dyes do as much damage to children’s brains as lead in gasoline, resulting in a significant reduction in IQ.
The results of this study were what prompted the British Food Standards Agency (FSA) to issue an immediate advisory to parents, warning them to limit their children’s intake of additives if they notice an effect on behavior.
As mentioned earlier, they also advised the food industry to voluntarily remove the six food dyes named in the study back in 2009, and replace them with natural alternatives if possible.
The United States, however, has not followed suit in issuing any similar warnings to American parents, even now two years later.
Stick to Naturally Colored Foods for Your Health
Let me make it clear that your diet should include a range of vibrantly colored foods … but these foods should be the ones that are naturally rich in color.
Red bell peppers, purple eggplant, green spinach, blueberries and rainbow chard are all examples of healthy foods whose bright colors are signs of the important nutrients they contain.
These are the food colors you need in your diet … not the man-made varieties found in most processed foods. The good news is avoiding artificial food dyes is incredibly easy — just stick to whole fresh foods and avoid the processed ones. If you need help breaking an addiction to processed foods, these seven steps will help you wean off of them in favor of healthier, unprocessed, natural alternatives.
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Although both parties are crooked, the republicans are shameless with their willingness to take any dollar offered to them.
Who is voting for a party that takes a few dollars to permit a food dye to be put in our food that does this/ “The study also found that the E-numbered food dyes do as much damage to children’s brains as lead in gasoline, resulting in a significant reduction in IQ.”
Carrie
March 18th, 2011 at 10:00 am
Michelle:
I hope you are right on this one. I just can’t seem to put my fate in my race getting it right. As much as I am put off by Robert’s arrogance, I have to agree with him on this one.
Too many times I have seen various groups come back with senseless excuses or flashy buzz words or cute talking point that my race has picked up and repeated as if they know what they are talking about.
Yesterday, I received a stupid email that ended with “my dog is a democrat.” A republican sent it out. I thought how inane the comparisons and comments were until I realized how many idiots would be accepting them as gospel.
Tess
March 18th, 2011 at 11:17 am
Hafa Adai, Michelle:
In my back yard the island is filling up with Japanese. Most are coming for their regular vacations here on guam but the rest are coming because of the nuclear trouble.
Lea
March 18th, 2011 at 11:40 am
Michelle, I am from Iwaki. It is so terrible here that I have almost lost hope. But I believe that this happened for a reason.
This may not sound like the time but the truth must be spoken. We have the problems we do because Japan like other male dominated countries hear only one voice, the male”s. Men love their power status.
Japanese are so anti woman in politics and most of the women here accept their situation as if there is no way to change it. A woman would have questioned the continued reliance on all that nuclear presence. But for men it becomes an extension of their sexuality and they start reasoning on that basis. I cannot think of a single instance where a woman would be influenced by the status nuclear power would give their nation. Maybe Zen Lill would know of one, but I can’t imagine any woman doing it.
So Japan goes the way of the other nations that refuse to allow their female population to fully participate in the nation’s economic, general welfare, political, and international decisions.
As nothing will change for women here in Japan, forgive me by beloved Japan if I take less than concerned attitude about a problem caused by arrogant men.
Hitomi
March 18th, 2011 at 1:00 pm
Hitomi, I cannot but thanks for asking : )
Anyone else attempting to bait me into a ‘let’s watch ZL back up the males’ had better think again.
Or better yet check in with your attorney pals (as if they are more inteligent on every subject) or your ‘father’ who even agrees with dogging me (he can take a hike, he’s a man, don’t care about his opinion and obviously you needed the male approval of your ZL bash : ).
So, for the record, rape is rape, it is wrong, doesn’t matter the age and yes, an eleven yr old is a child, doesn’t matter what she was wearing, doesn’t matter where she was walking, doesn’t matter is she was in the ME reporting for a living same as her male counterparts, so – are we clear on that already now?
oh wait, let me add: Americans are mostly racists generally speaking, I would argue with you Robert that your numbers are low bc not all are like George, most whites hide it very well (a bit of that racism starts in grade school with Vespuci ‘discovering’ America, yeah with indigenous people already here, as if they just don’t count bc their clothing was different or bc the new males arriving just wanted the F’ing land, either way, it was mistating the case to 7 year olds in school no matter how you frame it).
Males (many, a lot) are assholes who try to run everything (and into the fecking ground I may add) so are we clear on that also? Clearly, a woman would not logically look through the obvious disadvantages of nuclear power for energy and say yes, let’s do that…NO, we’d be too busy asking where the asshole who suggested it is located so we could beat him with a big stick.
IF you think I’m going to be your whipping girl bc I apparently misspoke – you’re wrong.
…and this is all I will say on this – I was making a point about teen sexuality and should not have addressed that point at the same time as addressing a rape of an 11 yr old. THAT is the closest you’ll get to an aoplogy.
Now – if your attorney friends can tell me that they’ve studied human sexuality and mass psychology (oh and you all bought in nicely to AD’s mass ZL personal psyche bashing, it felt ok bc you had a predecessor, yep, probably felt pretty damn good, now didn’t it?) AND ask your atty’s if they’ve worked with girls in a home (in SG where the legal age is 16) bc they had underage (statutory rapes, when they were upset that their parents wanted the boy brought up on charges they either ran away or were sent to the Home) and have they mediated violence prevention at a high school(?), 99% girls threatening girls, 95% about a sexual experience a same boy or/and who’s sleeping with each others boyfrineds and/or peripheral issues to that, all 13/14-16 yrs old…then we can talk, all of their other nonsense is about letter of the law and yes, in this country the age is 18, though I would argue that many female teens are opting to defy the usual mores of sexuality and are willing to dive in and not worry about being labeled a whore or anything else at a much younger age. In fact, many were very open with me that they wanted their virginity gone baby gone…now, do they have the absolute right to call it with a boy and say NO anytime during the act, though a horny boy may argue with them on this point, the answer is yes.
If you are an aware parent – in middle school, mostly public and large institutions, many girls (11-13) are giving head/initiating sexual contact in an attempt to be cool/worldly/wanted and sought after/what-have-you and not knowing what they’re getting into. Yes, all kids 12-25 do NOT have a properly formed prefrontal cortex for this type of pyschological/emotional decision making yet, but what do you want to do lock them up till their in their mid-twenties??? Why not talk about sexuality with them and how to handle themselves and teach girls some self defense skills (in the event they need to use them when they run into a jerk) rather than pretend that they aren’t indulging and calling an attty when your 16 yr old decides to have sex with her 18 yr old bf…
I’m done now…thanks for listening, Luv, Zen Lill
March 18th, 2011 at 1:55 pm
It’s rainy here today like every day you are away
March 18th, 2011 at 4:40 pm
Well said Zen Lill.
March 18th, 2011 at 4:47 pm
Michelle, we asked the US military for help and it was turned down. The US said its forces were not equipped to handle such accidents.
Who will be able to help us?
Azumi
March 18th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
Someone wrote in and said that this accident was an accident waiting to happen in Japan. If you doubt that read this.
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The environmental organisation Greenpeace criticised the accident as a symptom of a safety “crisis” in Japan’s nuclear industry.
“Today’s accident at Tokaimura confirms our fears – the entire safety culture in Japan is in crisis and the use of dangerous plutonium in reactors here will only increase the probablity of a nuclear catastrophe,” Greenpeace International activist Shaun Burnie said.
The organisation pointed out that the accident came just one day before a UK-flagged ship was expected to deliver 225 kilograms (495 pounds) of mixed plutonium-uranium oxide (MOX) fuel to a plant in Takahama, central Japan.
History of accidents
Tokaimura was the site of Japan’s worst nuclear plant incident in 1997, when 35 workers were contaminated by radiation after a fire at a processing plant was not extinguished properly and caused an explosion.
A series of incidents at Japanese nuclear power stations in recent years has undermined confidence in the safety of this form of energy production, says BBC Tokyo correspondent Juliet Hindell.
In July, cooling water leaked from a pipe in the building that houses the reactor at the Tsuruga nuclear power plant in northern Japan.
It took Japan Atomic Power, the company that operates the plant, 14 hours to shut down operations after the leak was discovered.
Executives in charge of the reactor said radiation from the leak was 11,500 times the safety limit.
The earlier figure given was 250 times the limit, and the change has sparked accusations of a cover-up.
Nuclear programme
Japan has 51 commercial nuclear power reactors that provide one-third of the country’s electricity.
With few natural resources of its own, Japan imports nearly all its fuel oil.
Since the oil crisis of 1973, successive governments have made concerted efforts to become self-sufficient.
By the year 2010, Japan wants to produce 42% of its energy in nuclear plants.
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42% of its energy from nuclear power plants in the most dangerous location(The Ring of Fire) on the planet. What does this say about the selfishness of the Japanese leadership?
Basically, they are saying fuck you world, we do what we feel serves Japan best. Now, that their arrogance threatens to poison the rest of the world. All they can do is ask for help for Japan. Just as they don’t care what happens to the whale and dolphins that they are hunting to extinction, they are only concern about their situation not what there carelessness is doing to the rest of the world.
Henry
March 19th, 2011 at 8:04 am
Hafa adai
This is great news. It appears Guam is safe for now from the disaster in Japan according to the experts. –
Posted at 22:21 on 17 March, 2011 UTC
Civil defence in Guam is assuring people that the nuclear crisis in Japan poses no threat to them.
Fears about the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan are intensifying, with latest reports saying one of the pools containing highly radioactive spent fuel rods has run dry.
A meteorologist in Guam has told the Pacific Daily News there is a very small risk that air from Japan could reach Guam within a week.
But Guam Homeland Security public information officer Alyssa Benito says they are monitoring wind patterns and air levels and do not believe there’s a threat.
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I feel sorry for Japan. But when are people going to start saying that Japan put themselves and others like Guam into this risk by refusing not to consider seriously other natural forms of energy. If they had this would not be happening.
Peter
March 19th, 2011 at 8:21 am
Hafa adai:
I forgot to mention to those of you coming on your annual trek to Guam. Be advised that the skies around Guam will be crowded. The military is coming in a rush. The hotels will be filled up. Check to make sure your reservations are secure.
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Guam – Guam will see an influx of military personnel and their family members currently stationed in Japan. KUAM News has confirmed that immediate family members of military personnel will begin arriving to Guam this weekend. U.S. Forces Japan Sergeant Major Stephen Valley says those dependents that chose voluntary departure will be headed to Guam, not Korea as was first mentioned on Thursday.
There were no specific numbers provided as U.S. Forces Japan is still trying to determine how many dependents will be seeking voluntary departure. Sgt. Major Valley added it will be up to the dependents to decide if they will stay in hotels on Guam or leave to the U.S. Mainland.
In the meantime, Joint Region Marianas Public Affairs Officer Lieutenant Jodie Cornell confirms that Navy personnel and planes from Naval Air Facilities Atsugi Japan have already started arriving to Guam flying into Andersen Air Force Base. More arrivals are anticipated throughout the weekend.
Lt. Cornell added that the naval personnel will be staying at local hotels. Guam Hotel and Restaurant Association President Mary Torre confirmed with KUAM that Joint Region Marianas has been in contact with eleven partner hotels to arrange accommodations for the military personnel and dependents that come to Guam.
The Guam USO has also made preparations for the massive influx of military expected to arrive to the territory in the next few days. The organization provides free breakfast, snacks, internet service and phone calls in addition to many other services.
Lt. Cornell says more information from Naval Forces Japan is expected soon on the arrival of the naval personnel.
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Peter
March 19th, 2011 at 9:00 am
The wind is not the only way that nuclear radiation is traveling from Japan to the rest of the world. The world governments have already started detecting radiation brought from those trying to escape Japan’s problem.
The radiation on the people, their clothes and effects have sent the geiger counters on the radiation detectors soaring from Sacramento to San Jose in California. State wise radiation has been detected from New York to Hawaii.
This thing is just getting started. The stupidity of using a blow torch to light a cigarette is about to become apparent.
Robert
March 20th, 2011 at 8:35 am
Everywhere we look there seems to be chaos or chaos about to come. I wonder if that Prince is starting to loose patience with the men on this planet. I live in the Heilongjiang Provence. It is China’s farthest northeast territory. Actually we are the Provence number 1.
Here the men out number the women because female babies are routinely drowned so that the couple can have a second child who they hope will be a boy. The way I see it is why should women worry? Let the men have their soil that they are seeding for death.
The more miserable it can be for them, the better. If I met the Prince, I would kneel before him, kiss his feet and beg him to give the men more hell.
Lakita
March 20th, 2011 at 8:47 am
From what I hear in the investment field, there seems to be a shift of investment capital back to the US. International investors are running scared looking for a safe place for their money.
Dictators are about the only ones looking to hide money from the US market. However, as usual the ugly face of greed is rearing its head. Many super rich americans are setting up dummy companies for the dictators to invest in and the republican party is busy writing laws to allow this to occur with a minimum if no penalty if they get caught.
So look for stock prices to rise in the US when all that blood money starts heading for dummy companies formed for investment clout for the rich to get even richer by using that extra buying power to artificially manipulate the stock markets in the US and around the world.
Robert
March 20th, 2011 at 9:03 am
Now that the Japanese have raised the severity level of their nuclear crisis to a level 5 which is equal to the level of our three mile island incident, will we get some serious discussion about our nuclear power plant?
Don’t count on it. The industry has lined the pockets of the republican party and given hefty extra sums to some if its more powerful members. They have their marching orders to get out and hammer buzz words like “be proactive.”
I will say it first so Robert can keep his black mouth shut. Yes, we will be hearing many middle class white males say “let’s be proactive and not reactive…..”
Some white males are as easy to manipulate as women. I am a frustrated democrat who sees a long hard fight to avoid just such a disaster in this country.
Lenard
March 20th, 2011 at 10:17 am
[...] Henry: Nice post. Good point. And don’t even get my going about their destruction of the beautiful whales and dolphins. I have blogged about that atrocity a few times. As I have said, when people don’t care about their own…when their female babies are routinely drowned, do you think they’re going to care about the rest of the world, not to mention animals or the environment? [...]
March 24th, 2011 at 8:19 am
[...] never got this e-mailed to me in it’s original format, but after Tess commented on it, I did a little searching myself. Yes Tess, the republicans are sending this out [...]