Safe as Hell

[Guest guest]

Safe as Hell

Posted by Mark Sircus on 21 March 2011

_http://blog.imva.info/world-affairs/safe-hell_

(http://blog.imva.info/world-affairs/safe-hell)

[PICTURE - Satellite image of Fukushima nuclear station]]

Destroyed: A satellite image of the Fukushima nuclear station shows the

destroyed reactor buildings and radioactive steam rising from the plant. From

the satellite it is safe, but flying below, as approaching helicopters

need to do if they are ever to bury the plant in sand and concrete, it is so

dangerous that one approaches the gates of hell on earth in plain sight.

Above and surrounding that plant, its infernal heat and death rays would

kill a man quickly if he got close enough. A person taking a walk inside the

area of the nuclear power plant without any protection would burn up on a

cellular level as fast as you can drop a hat. That nastiness of existence

is going, in all likelihood, to grow nastier as each day, week and month

passes, but amazingly this situation is already starting to receive less media

attention as if a hell on earth did not exist in Japan.

Obama flew over me today in the northeast of Brazil on his way down south

to Rio. And the news line read that the President’s mind was split between

what was going on around him in Brazil and the attacks going on in Libya.

Not a mention was made of the mega disaster of still a much unknown

dimension in Japan and very much solidly in the northern hemisphere. The online

Times version made no mention of the disaster today in terms of its health

threat but instead was only concerned with the economic fallout, of which there

will be a lot.

The headlines we wake up to Monday morning say: A new column of smoke

rising from an overheating nuclear plant in Japan drove workers out of the

smoldering site dented hopes for a breakthrough in the post-quake atomic crisis

_raising the risk of uncontrolled radiation._

(http://news./s/nm/20110321/wl_nm/us_japan_quake_snapshot;_ylt=AoZWcsaI\

uDMg7wWtOX8_g30z869_;_ylu

=X3oDMTJ0c3BjdWowBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTEwMzIxL3VzX2phcGFuX3F1YWtlX3NuYXBzaG90BHB

vcwMzBHNlYwN5bl9wYWdpbmF0ZV9zdW1tYXJ5X2xpc3QEc2xrA3NuYXBzaG90amFwYQ--) The

World Health Organization said today that radiation in food after an

earthquake damaged a Japanese nuclear plant was _more serious_

(http://news./s/nm/20110321/wl_nm/us_japan_quake;_ylt=AiKlkYHpsdNpqRoVM\

T851Ocz869_;_y

lu=X3oDMTJsZ2ZibDJoBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTEwMzIxL3VzX2phcGFuX3F1YWtlBHBvcwMyNARzZ

WMDeW5fcGFnaW5hdGVfc3VtbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsawN3aG93YXJuc29mcXU-) than

previously thought, eclipsing signs of progress in a battle to avert a

catastrophic meltdown in the reactors.

Just a little bit of radiation can make you terribly sick and of course a

lot can kill you quite instantly. Every little bit of radiation adds to the

winds that bring on cancer so there is a lot to be concerned about. An

unexpected spike in pressure inside one reactor on Sunday is setting back

efforts to bring Japan’s overheating, leaking nuclear complex under control

and

concerns are growing that contamination of food and water is spreading.

If there ever was a time for starting to plan for worse-case scenarios, it

is now. But we are not hearing any stories of people from the north

fleeing to the southern hemisphere; are you? That’s right, there is no panic

or

mass migration going on—just some concerned parents trying desperately to

get their hands on some iodine, any iodine and for good reason. But the

controlled press strikes back and makes fun of these very concerned citizens. It

appears that the press and the experts are going to abandon the people of

Japan like they did the Gulf Coast, which is still staggering from the Gulf

of Mexico oil disaster.

The survival rate after radiation exposure depends

on the radiation dose. For those who survive, full

recovery typically takes from a few weeks to 2 years.

As each day passes the world comes closer to reading news of one of the

largest nuclear stations in the world going out of control creating a

permanent hot spot on our planet that will create nightmares for generations to

come. It is already happening and we are within a hair’s breadth of

incalculable suffering and harm to human civilization. That might sound

dramatic but

what else are we to think with thousands of tons of nuclear material at

risk at the still not under control overly large nuclear power station. Some

of the bravest men who have ever lived are battling to bring the situation

under control and at this point we can only pray that their sacrifices are

not in vain.

At Fukushima prefecture’s 12 monitoring points, the highest level of

radiation was detected in the village of Iitate where a reading of _12.10

microsieverts per hour_

(http://news./s/afp/20110321/wl_asia_afp/japanquake;_ylt=AmCpGeNZiqM2ds\

37BZDiYDMz869_;_ylu=X3oDMTJobTdkZmd0BGFzc2V0A2FmcC8yMDEx

MDMyMS9qYXBhbnF1YWtlBHBvcwM5BHNlYwN5bl9wYWdpbmF0ZV9zdW1tYXJ5X2xpc3QEc2xrA3Bv

dW5kaW5ncmFpbg--) was recorded at 8:00 am (2300 GMT Sunday). An X-ray

is 600 microsieverts so people in this region are receiving the equivalent

of almost an X-ray every other day at this level meaning 180 X-rays a year.

In three years it will be 540 X-rays in six years over a thousand and that’

s only if the radiation intensity gets no worse. And we must remember that

these detectable readings are not reporting on the full range of radiation

since many types of radiation on not detectable with normal instrumentation.

**This event has the potential to be the most globally disruptive natural

hazard in modern times,†said Rob Verchick, a disaster expert at Loyola

University in New Orleans. “And it may just be, in the context of

globalization, of all time.†“The Asian tsunami of 2004 killed more people.

The fall

of the Twin Towers launched two wars. The collapse of the Berlin Wall

spelled the end of an empire. But in this event, psychological, even

philosophical, shock over the confluence of human tragedy and nuclear

catastrophe

yields some fundamental questions. If a technological power like Japan can be

so

vulnerable, who’s safe? Is even minimal risk, as with nuclear power, too

much risk? Do we need to rethink the role of government in protecting the

public?** wrote Joji Sakurai, writing for the _Associated Press_

(http://news./s/ap/20110320/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_earthquake_global_trag\

edy;_ylt=A

qWGGCbfgn2bjDt1ZpkBqwus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFpaHNjaG8zBHBvcwMyMQRzZWMDYWNjb3JkaW9

uX21vc3RfcG9wdWxhcgRzbGsDamFwYW50cmFnZWR5) .

[PICTURE]

No one in the world is going to enjoy seeing this simulation. The longer

the nuclear plant in Japan emits radioactive particles the further it will

travel and touch down in foreign lands. When we hear of the *safe* levels we

should starting thinking of the Physicians for Social Responsibility, a

U.S. non-profit advocacy group, which at one point called for a halt to new

nuclear reactors in the United States.

**There is no safe level of radiation exposure,** said Jeff , a

former president of the group. Hard science has concluded that is

correct in his assertion, which means every time you read the *safe* word

used in conjunction with nuclear radiation in the newspapers or on TV, you

are reading deliberate manipulations of our minds. Actually the report on

the Taiwan food imports read “slightly†contaminated so we have to add the

*slightly* word to the word *safe*. Anyone who wants to eat some *slightly*

contaminated radioactive food, please raise your hand, and imagine in a

month or a year from now, as the soil soaks up more and more radiation, what

the food situation is going to look like.

They will keep saying it’s safe or talk about

safe amounts or tiny exposure until people and

children, millions of them, are in their graves.

Radiation exceeding Japanese safety standards were _found in milk_

(http://news./s/nm/20110320/wl_nm/us_japan_quake;_ylt=Aj.g2.Vb2XSDt2IXS\

f6Ao8

Yz869_;_ylu=X3oDMTJsaHJvZWt0BGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTEwMzIwL3VzX2phcGFuX3F1YWtlBHBv

cwMxMARzZWMDeW5fcGFnaW5hdGVfc3VtbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsawNqYXBhbnNlZXNzb20-)

from a farm about 30 km (18 miles) from the plant as well as spinach grown in

neighboring Ibaraki prefecture. Radioactive iodine has also been found in

tap water in Tokyo, about 240 km (150 miles) to south. Many tourists and

expatriates have already left and residents are generally staying indoors.

Radioactive iodine and cesium were also found in northern Ibaraki and in dust

and particles in the greater Tokyo area, the government said on the 20th.

Authorities in Taiwan, checking food imports for radiation, found a shipment

of fava beans from southern Japan that had been contaminated.

Japan’s Health Ministry says tests have now detected additional types of

radiation-tainted vegetables in more places, suggesting that contamination

from its tsunami-crippled nuclear complex is _reaching further into the food

chain_

(http://news./s/ap/20110320/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_earthquake_food_fears;\

_ylt=An9cbHaemwtJyHM0yNKDOT8z869_;_ylu=X3oDMTM0MDZhdm80BGFzc2V0A2F

wLzIwMTEwMzIwL2FzX2phcGFuX2VhcnRocXVha2VfZm9vZF9mZWFycwRwb3MDNwRzZWMDeW5fcGF

naW5hdGVfc3VtbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsawNqYX) Ministry official Yoshifumi Kaji

said Sunday that tests found excess amounts of radioactive elements on canola

and chrysanthemum greens, in addition to spinach. He said the areas where

the tainted produce was found included three prefectures that previously

had not recorded such contamination. But Japanese officials say levels so far

are not alarming, meaning they will not start to evacuate the northern end

of Japan or Tokyo any time soon.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said radiation levels in milk

from a Fukushima farm about 30 km (18 miles) from the plant, and spinach

grown in Ibaraki, a neighboring prefecture, exceeded limits set by the

government. Shoppers in Tokyo avoided the produce that came from Ibaraki

prefecture in the northeast, where radiation was found in spinach grown up to

75

miles (120 kilometers) from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

On Monday the 21st, the Japanese government told people not to drink the

tap water in a village near the quake-hit nuclear power plant after high

levels of radioactive iodine were detected. The health ministry said 965

becquerels per kilogramme of radioactive iodine was found in water sampled on

Sunday in Iitatemura, which is 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Fukushima

No. 1 plant. It is already more than three times the level the government

considers advising people to limit the intake of water.

The radiation from the plant will only get stronger and become more

penetrating into the environments around it. The local affect is quite strong

but

what is local might soon come to envelop the entire island nation of Japan.