Published: August 24th, 2012 at 7:23 am ET
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Title: Visiting the end of the world
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Author: Senator Scott Ludlam, Australian Greens Senator for Western Australia
Date: Aug 24, 2012
[...]
Flash forward to August 2012, with 150,000 people evacuated from places like Iitate. The mood in the region is dark. A young high school teacher downloads the unvarnished truth in a loungeroom in Fukushima City the night before our trip down to the coast.
“I’m lying to a room full of students,” he tells me, daring me to break eye contact. Like many thousands of others, his wife and children now live in temporary accommodation well outside the contaminated area, but Japan has no social security net to speak of and people can’t just walk away from jobs.
Now he is grappling with a hateful dilemma, addressing a room full of students in a city he believes is no longer safe for children. Fukushima City, population 290,000. Kōriyama City, population 336,000. Both of them hit by the plume that carried fission products from the broken reactors to the north-west before the wind swung briefly towards Tokyo. I hesitate, then ask, should this city be evacuated? He pauses a long time before answering, and finally drops his gaze. Yes.
[...]
With a slightly different fall of the dice, the Fukushima meltdowns would have cost the people of Japan their country. Another cruel accident of plate tectonics and it still could.
There is no place on this archipelago for nuclear power, and tens of millions of Japanese now understand this. Everything has changed.
[...]
Published: August 24th, 2012 at 7:23 am ET
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sending...
Oh dear. Again, someone from the Greens showing some concern and trying to get the truth out. Well done Aussie Greens!
As a teacher, you're supposed to be a role model for your students – I wonder if he can still sleep at night, knowing what the future holds for his students and not having tried to save them.
On the other hand, obviously the pressure the teaching staff faces is immense. With his family living in shelter, he probably can't afford to lose his job….they can't help themselves, it's the world community (= us) who must stop this madness.
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Dear BreadAndButter,
I found this today. Seems so much was learned from difficult lessons of Chernobyl but still is not being applied to Japan. Tragic disconnect! Folks need validation! Folks need truths!
Aloha.
'Another important stress factor is the loss of trust of he population in the scientific, medical and political authorities. Beyond the negative impact the of lack of transparency of the authorities at the time of the accident, the on-going debates on the criteria for establishing countermeasures as well as on the potential health effects associated with the remaining ('on-going' now in Japan) contamination have slowly turned the situation into a very complex one where individuals did not trust anymore experts and felt totally insecure and unable to contribute to resolve the problems themselves. A general feeling of loss of control is thus reinforcing the climate of social distrust.'
'Psychological and Social Impacts of Post-Accident Situations: Lessons From the Chernobyl Accident'
http://www.irpa.net/irpa9/cdrom/VOL.1/V1_10.PDF
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Yes that makes total sense to me. It must be a very intense version happening in Japan, well especially Fukushima.
What also jumped out at me is: " Japan has no social security net to speak of "
Combined they make a living nightmare for any person anywhere. The Japan government REALLY let their people down this time.
They could repair some of this damage with the people by doing right by them now.
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Dear Anthony,
Oh my…
'it was discovered that Naoto Kan, leader of the opposition, had neglected to pay into the plan for 10 months in 1996, when, as health minister, he was in charge of the national pension system.'
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/06/business/a-tough-sell-japanese-social-security.html
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Con't:
This teacher is in the perfect position to effect change and demonstrate leadership of self to children whose lives are forever changed. My heart cries out to this person… 'Just do it! Speak the truth!'. How can we help empower and support this person and those around him/her? How can we learn from Chernobyl?
ENENews is so important to the world. Folks like this teacher, the heroic workers and countless others who are doing the best they can deserve empowerment. How can we help them to not slip into the spiral of victimization?
Aloha.
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Dear BreadAndButter,
How is it that healthcare professionals seem 'bamboozled' too?
Aloha.
“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”
- Carl Sagan.
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BreadAndButter, Andagi, others … Good morning!
Thank you, andagi for the link to the Chernobl report on psychological/social developments. I've saved a copy.
As a retired teacher I view the teacher's situation somewhat differently than has been expressed. I well remember facing my class of young students in my community when, after years of poverty their families were experiencing some prosperity due to new employment opportunity. The opportunity? Jobs related to clear-cutting vast acres of beautiful forest that I also deeply loved. First, my kids were too young to be dragged into the controversy. 2nd – I deeply cared for their parents, for the families struggling to "join" the "working classes" with attendant participation in the dominant culture. 3rd – I kept my forest sorrow/forest saving "activism" on the side, shared it with teachers and other community adults. I lived in conflict, and that – in part – was a sort of "contribution".
The teacher (and other adults in the community) have faced almost unresolvable choices: save family and self too; save family and stay behind; whole family stays. I think many made the same choice as the teacher. Next: if staying behind – how to best contribute? It's not easy. I assume need to "take reading of" community's general mood/attitudes in deciding how to best stir the community. (cont..)
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What does he do? Does he stay available to kids – perhaps stretching their awareness as much as possible on an "age appropriate" criteria? Does he stay in the teaching community and somewhat quietly keep pressure up on others who also may not appear to be taking the concern seriously? (They're likely not sleeping well either.) Does he decide to become an outspoken activist (not necessarily a good fit for all personalities, and could be a quick way to be sidelined.) Would being sidelined give him more freedom to speak out (possibly!)
This entire "unfolding" has got to be a living nightmare for all but the youngest children in terms of understanding the reality.
The Sagan quote shines some light, but it's not just "blinders" I think. I think a feeling of being caught in a monster trap might be involved – and could contribute to an apparent 'docile acceptance' of conditions. Both are coping strategies to avoid direct truth-facing – the reality is "unthinkable".
I feel for the teacher and for many in his position. I doubt they sleep well at night.
Post note: I also think outside Japan – I'm in the US – there's much acceptance of being bamboozled, much practice of bamboozling ourselves, not only on nuclear, but on ever so much else! Japan's experience is manifesting in radically more subtle ways "everywhere". *We* are that teacher, in our own cultures, and … well, you see how difficult it is! (For me at least.)
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Hi Maggie, thanks for adding your perspective!
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fukushima city still has above average levels of radiation, see here for current readings…
http://new.atmc.jp/pref.cgi?p=07#p=07af7c7210ee416ac9
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thanks mungo. and en plus some nice Pu patches here and there and everywhere, probably
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"his wife and children now live in temporary accommodation well outside the contaminated area"
The first humans on mars? Sensational!
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They must be living on Mars was my first thought too.
"It's estimated that the average American receives 360 millirems (thousandths of a rem) in background radiation per year. On Mars, you would get about a hundred times more (~34 rems)."
http://www.rps.psu.edu/explorations/mars/feature.html
The folks at NASA have been asking the ongoing 'low dose' radiation question for a long time.
"On the way to the moon, Apollo crews reported seeing cosmic ray flashes in their retinas, and now, many YEARS LATER, some of them have developed cataracts. Otherwise they don't seem to have suffered much. ''A few days 'out there' is probably safe,'' concludes Cucinotta."
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2004/17feb_radiation/
Side note: The Curiosity Rover now on Mars is powered by Nuclear. (Pu 238) So our first 'gift' to a neighboring planet is our radioactive trash.
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Of course! You get plenty of solar and cosmic radiation on mars. (Thin atmosphere!) I completely forgot about that in the heat of battle. (But it is still not quite the same as "contamination", which you will find out when you start to grow your lettuce on mars.)
My above comment was my first on enenews, by the way. It is a very nice experience, to get an intelligent and surprising reply to your first post. Until now I was a keen reader here for a few month. I wrote that post because my eyes always get fixated on often repeated misleading phrases like:
•"no immediate health risk"
•"the worst nuclear accident since chernobyl" (Not a downright lie, but intentionally misleading, and it would be equally true to call it "the worst nuclear accident since my neighbour's cat ran away".)
And I think
•"contaminated zone/area" belongs in that category.
That plutonium battery on curiosity… A few kilograms we got rid off, a few more thousand tons to go! At least that Pu 238 has a half-life of only 88 years (our "normal" Pu 239 has 24.000 years). The little green men and women will thank us for that! Peace enenewsers and martians!
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In most other galaxies lobbing a box of radioactive material at a planet would be considered an act of war.
I am hoping the Martians are similar to humans and just accept being FORCED into the Nuclear Age without question as they greet us just before we consume or contaminate for profit all their natural resources.
"Hello there," humans will say with a smile, "we're just looking for microbial life here… there is no immediate concern. 900 years will go by fast. Thank you for your patience."
Note: Pu-238's 88 yr decay rate means it will be Hazardous to Life for almost 900 years.
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"Note: Pu-238's 88 yr decay rate means it will be Hazardous to Life for almost 900 years."
ROFL. What a nonsense.
The RTG contains at least one kilogram of plutonium, and after 10 halftimes (almost 900 years) there will be "only" one gram of plutonium left.
So you actually state that one gram of plutonium is harmless
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You can find and read the calculation on wiki for yourself.
I should have stated OR longer.
Decay Rate x 10 (or longer at least) = HAZARDOUS TO LIFE!!!
…or listen to Beyond Nuclear. They say x 20 is hazardous.
The point is, sending Nuclear Material to other planets is about as smart as building a Nuclear Power plant. Maybe even more insane. Mars did not give anyone permission to contaminate the planet.
If we cannot do it via solar panels then don't do it at all. Just my opinion.
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I'm glad Curiosity landed safely and starts doing what it is built for – I am looking forward to that. But, probably like you, I get wrinkles why they had to put that Pu battery into it. For sure a different design (photovoltaic) would have been possible. I can imagine using plutonium batteries will become less fashionable in future space explorations.
Curiosity was designed and launched in a technological era which has now come to an end – thanks to Fukushima. It's sad it needed a big catastrophe instead of successfully using our ability to think. That era was brain dead from the beginning, Fukushima was a shot in it's heart, now it's a corpse giving off waste products. Better we bury it now. Decaying will take a looong time.
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@ChasAha, regarding your remarks about the half-life topic:
Atomfritz basically said everything already. (What about his 'friendly' tone? Well, let's put it this way: What would it say about your mental health, if you would not become a bit grumpy and impatient while you are reading the fukup news?)
I have seen you would like to call it decay rate instead of half-life. Decay rate may be better intuitively understandable. If you want to use it you need to realise decay rate would not be a different synonym for the same thing but rather the inverse of half-life. Something like: decay rate=1/half-life. Why?
"fast" (or big) decay rate="short" (or small) half-life.
"slow" (or small) decay rate="long" (or big) half-life.
(There is already a term "decay constant" in use, but that's not exactly the same.)
My advise would be: Stick to half-life! You and I will not rewrite the physics books.
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That 10 half-lives rule of thumb… You see that used quite often. The pro-nukers love it. It makes every danger vanish in thin air after a certain amount of time. My opinion: It makes sense only in laboratory experiments or in medical uses, where you use milligrams or micrograms of something. Then you can assume after 10 half-lives there is "nothing" left (if you ignore it is being transformed into different kinds of isotopes which may be decaying and radiating likewise). But it is wrong to use it for the inventar of a npp or even 1 kilogram of material. Atomfritz said it! I wouldn't be tempted to swallow that remaining 1 gram of plutonium. Even 20 half-lives (you mentioned it) is not good enough. Then you have left 1 milligram of plutonium. I wouldn't go near that.
How much is left of something after how many half-lives is actually easy to calculate, you don't need wikipedia or a calculator:
after 10 half-lives: 1 thousandth
after 20 half-lives: 1 millionth
after 30 half-lives: 1 billionth
after 40 half-lives: 1 trillionth, and so on
(Even the banksters will understand this.)
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Actually, my avatar image is a piece of Pu-238.
It's warm and cosy, isn't it?
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Nice picture! I was already wondering what it shows. Now I know. Thanks!
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That's it..that's what TPTB expect..they want the same hypocrisy ..the same deceit..across the board.
All social stratas are to fall in line.
But they have forgotten that there are people who are bound to a personal and professional morality and conduct.
What are we to do live like them?
Are we to lie,cheat and steal from the people on command?
Are we to turn a "blind eye"?
Some of us live within our own skins..our own souls.
The answer is NO.
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Dear Heart of the Rose,
Aloha.
Resounding NO!
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Thank you Heart.
My thoughts exactly.
Once you know what you know, you can't just 'go along' with the duplicity.
I'm reading "The Careless Atom" by Sheldon Novick, published in 1968.
We were repeatedly warned by well-meaning people, but the power of industry and their money and their prerogatives prevailed.
Humboldt Bay reactor in 1963 leaky fuel elements, raised radiation guidelines, hundreds of thousands of curies of releases of radioactive krypton, the tritium problem … it's all there …
This entire corrupt industry has made a mockery of the American system … we are all of us darling little Josef Mengeles, Angels of Death and experiment without permission, on all the little things in life, for we are 'Mitgaenger' : those who 'go along with' the prevailing propaganda …
In 1930's Germany it was Jews and Roma gypsies who needed to be weeded out … in 2010's America … it is all life on the planet which must be corrupted, mutated and poisoned by our nuclear obsessed masters; the natural world is the unhappy recipient of our unwarranted and pretentious behavior.
Nuclear power is not safe or cheap. It's not reliable or necessary. It is simply wrong, and General Electric knew and knows this. This corporation should die as a result of their strong-willed obsession to destroy our livable planet. Any other outcome will be unclean.
peace …
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Hi nedlifromvermont, we have Einzelgänger, Doppelgänger, Fußgänger… But I have never seen a Mitgänger (or Mitgaenger). I'm sure you meant 'Mitläufer'.
I like your clear and strong comments. Don't make yourself scarce!
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and the entire US Congress should disband, too. These pimped out skeletons of real people, who passed and regularly reauthorize Price Anderson, which gives their nuclear obsessed pay-masters carte blanche to molest and mutate … all of these so-called people are Jerry Sandusky level perverts, sucking up campaign dollars from the stiffened pipeline of American-style prosperity … big-motor gigantism … World hegemon … United States of Cancer Empire … Huzzah!
peace! and thank you Admin. and the 'newsers, for keeping it real.
/rant off.
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People need to wake up and smell the napalm of huge corporations taking over… particularly in the military industrial complex, which adores and worships at the throne of nuclear idol worship..
JFK's Speech About The Danger Of Secret Societies And Huge Monopolies http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/08/jfks-speech-about-danger-of-secret.html
President Eisenhower – Farewell Warning About Military Industrial Complex http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/08/president-eisenhower-farewell-warning.html
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I am a retired educator and yes my family would have to be safely out of the radiation zone. I would leave myself.
America's leader have made a mockery of democracy. The nucleocrats want capitalist profits yet when thingd go bad they award socialist bailouts. The government wants near total control of citizens yet no social safety net.
Profits for the banksters and graft for the politicians. Your vote is wasted because special interests already hedged their bets and own both candidates.
America's population is 6% of the world, yet we have 25% of the world's prisoners. Most in prison for drug related crimes because American liquor and tobacco companies made other drugs illegal. The narco terrorism in Mexico is directly created by totalitarian drug policies, not in Mexico, but in the land of the free and the home of the brave (we are still the latter, but not the former). We put our police in an untenable situation. Put the minorities in prison, rescue the judge's son from dope charges, and tempt them with easy legal and illegal riches.
Welcome to Big Brother 2012. The kindly smile of the patron, the shifting enemies, it's all there just as Orwell described it. The only thing we have left is freedom to express our distaste, but they know their disinformation trumps anything you or I might say. You have relative freedom of speech, freedom to travel, but many freedoms are lost. Thomas Jefferson would be sickened if he were alive today.
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Obviously, when the congress/bank fraudsters say a corporation is too big to fail. What they are really saying is "The bigger they are, the harder they fall. And when they do fall, it so so ugly, complicated, horrible, and expensive that it must never be allowed to happen". Guaranteed paychecks for all in the meantime. The biggest crime would be if a federal agency was caught taking bribes or kickbacks that resulted in compromised safety. Like possibly the Yucca Mountain fiasco.
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Teacher play the modern pied piper, get a large stero play modern music and the children will follow you to a safe location, if you know in your heart that it is dangerious for these children, then it is time to make a stance, be a human being and stand up for what you believe.
It is not a sin to go against the flow and question authority.
May the divine wind cleanse you soul.
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Hi Weeman, I'm a retired teacher. I just posted a few paragraphs above to share thoughts on the teacher's decision so won't take it much further here. But where would he lead the children too? How would he feed/clothe them after he got them to wherever that is? What of all the children he might not be able to take along due to sheer numbers? From the time I first read the Diary of Anne Frank as a young girl, I've pondered the dilemmas, doubts, failures and courage of people caught in nightmare realities. I've learned enough to "sound reasonably informed" on how we (individuals) respond … but I've come to understand also why we (individuals and whole populations) seem sluggish if not downright complacent, even complicit, in our responses. I have no solution but that those of us speaking continue to do so – that we keep the pressure up – however and whenever we can.
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We react as though moving a couple hundred miles would have made it all right. It certainly would have helped, but the lingering question remains: Where is it safe this year? Will it still be safe next year? Will the food chain ever return to pre-311 conditions? If Americans had been told the truth, and the media not covered up the potential worst case situations, how would we have reacted? This situation continues to play out in slow motion. What we my grandkids this about the situation? Will they find the strength and resources to make it better? Nuclear accidents have forever consequences. There is not do over. Cleanup is very much like taking a mop to white carpet after the ink bottle spilled. Something has to be done — but the carpet is never the same as before. We will have to learn to live with the risks and consequences of this unfortunate event. But we are foolish in the extreme if we continue to allow increased risk. Nuclear must be shut down now.
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