Fukushima: What You Need To Know

By: Devvy
August 25, 2013
NewsWithViews.com

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster came as a result of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. A truly horrible disaster almost beyond words. Naturally, it dominated news media, electronic and print, for many weeks. The death and destruction was simply heart wrenching.

After a while, the media moved on to the next “when it bleeds, it leads” story and Fukushima became a forgotten incident. Not for the Japanese people – not after that day and for decades and generations to come. I have prayed for all the lost souls and the citizens over there who will continue to suffer from radiation poisoning – especially children. But, should we be concerned? Has or will the effects of Fukushima hit the U.S.?

A little refresher

“The plant comprised six separate boiling water reactors originally designed by General Electric (GE) and maintained by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). At the time of the earthquake, reactor 4 had been de-fueled and reactors 5 and 6 were in cold shutdown for planned maintenance. Immediately after the earthquake, the remaining reactors 1–3 shut down automatically and emergency generators came online to power electronics and coolant systems. However, the tsunami following the earthquake quickly flooded the low-lying rooms in which the emergency generators were housed. The flooded generators failed, cutting power to the critical pumps that must continuously circulate coolant water through a Generation II reactor for several days to keep it from melting down after shut down. After the pumps stopped, the reactors overheated due to the normal high radioactive decay heat produced in the first few days after nuclear reactor shutdown (smaller amounts of this heat normally continue to be released for years, but are not enough to cause fuel melting).

“As workers struggled to cool and shut down the reactors, several hydrogen-air chemical explosions occurred. It is estimated that the hot zirconium fuel cladding-water reaction in each reactor produced 800 to 1000 kilograms of hydrogen gas, which was vented out of the reactor pressure vessel, and mixed with the ambient air, eventually reaching explosive concentration limits in units 1 and 3, and due to piping connections between units 3 and 4, unit 4 also filled with hydrogen, with the hydrogen-air explosions occurring at the top of each unit, that is in their upper secondary containment building.

“The negative health effects of the Fukushima nuclear disaster include thyroid abnormalities, infertility and an increased risk of cancer. One study found that more than a third (36%) of children in Fukushima Prefecture have abnormal growths in their thyroid glands. Furthermore, a WHO report found that there is a significant increase in the risk of developing cancers for people who live near Fukushima. This includes a 70% higher risk of developing thyroid cancer for newborn babies, a 7% higher risk of leukemia in males exposed as infants, a 6% higher risk of breast cancer in females exposed as infants and a 4% higher risk of developing solid cancers for females. An increase in infertility has also been reported. As of August 2013, there have been more than 40 children newly diagnosed with thyroid cancer and other cancers in Fukushima prefecture alone and nuclear experts warn that this pattern may also occur in other areas of Japan.”

While the American media has pretty much ignored what’s been going on for the past 2 1/2 years (you might see a headline here and there), a few dedicated web sites have kept a steady stream of updates. For the most comprehensive coverage, go to Rense.com; scroll down to Japan Nuclear Disaster.

Contrary to the few weak statements by the criminal syndicate out in Washington, DC., one journalist recently penned this:

Why the Fukushima disaster is worse than Chernobyl

“Some scientists say Fukushima is worse than the 1986 Chernobyl accident, with which it shares a maximum level-7 rating on the sliding scale of nuclear disasters. One of the most prominent of them is Dr Helen Caldicott, an Australian physician and long time anti-nuclear activist who warns of “horrors to come” in Fukushima.

“Chris Busby, a professor at the University of Ulster known for his alarmist views, generated controversy during a Japan visit last month when he said the disaster would result in more than 1 million deaths. “Fukushima is still boiling its radionuclides all over Japan,” he said. “Chernobyl went up in one go. So Fukushima is worse.”

On our side of the world, we can still remember the terrible Deepwater Horizon oil platform “spill” in April 2010; eleven died. I won’t say accident. To say it was/is a financial as well as ecological disaster is the understatement of the century. Our fellow Americans in the gulf states who depend on fishing and tourism have endured hell for years. After all I have read since that deadly day, I won’t eat anything coming out of the Gulf of Mexico. I’m sorry to the fishermen, but it’s a choice I’ve made.

For those who haven’t heard what should have lead on all major boob tube channels and cable news networks, here’s an update:

“In November 2012, BP and the United States Department of Justice settled federal criminal charges with BP pleading guilty to 11 counts of manslaughter, two misdemeanors, and a felony count of lying to Congress. BP also agreed to four years of government monitoring of its safety practices and ethics, and the Environmental Protection Agency announced that BP would be temporarily banned from new contracts with the US government. BP and the Department of Justice agreed to a record-setting $4.525 billion in fines and other payments but further legal proceedings not expected to conclude until 2014 are ongoing to determine payouts and fines under the Clean Water Act and the Natural Resources Damage Assessment. As of February 2013, criminal and civil settlements and payments to a trust fund had cost the company $42.2 billion.”

continue article at News With Views:

http://www.newswithviews.com/Devvy/kidd601.htm