Published: August 19th, 2012 at 2:54 pm ET
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Title: The Panic Over Fukushima
Source: Wall St. Journal
Author: Dr. Muller is a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley
Date: Aug 18, 2012
But over the following weeks and months, the fear grew that the ultimate victims of this damaged nuke would number in the thousands or tens of thousands. The “hot spots” in Japan that frightened many people showed radiation at the level of .1 rem, a number quite small compared with the average excess dose that people happily live with in Denver.[...]
In hindsight, it is hard to resist the conclusion that the policies enacted in the wake of the disaster in Japan—particularly the long-term evacuation of large areas and the virtual termination of the Japanese nuclear power industry—were expressions of panic. I would go further and suggest that these well-intended measures did far more harm than good, not least in limiting the prospects of a source of energy that is safe, abundant and (as compared with its rivals) relatively benign for the environmental health of our planet.
[...]
The great tragedy of the Fukushima accident is that Japan shut down all its nuclear reactors. Even though officials have now turned two back on, the hardships and economic disruptions induced by this policy will be enormous and will dwarf any danger from the reactors themselves.
Published: August 19th, 2012 at 2:54 pm ET
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sending...
Dr Muller should better. Background rad levels are not the important issue. It is inhaled and ingested particles, plus perhaps the proximity of some on the skin, that is a significant danger. One that has barely begun to climbtowards its peak effects. It would be fair to ask where this prof's bread is buttered. Might be his job depends in some way on the nuke industry. It is also possible he doesn't think there is a real risk. I'm not betting on the latter.
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Hmmmm, maybe the professor could study a wee bit more?….
Radiation dangers in food and water; via A Green Road http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/03/radiation-contamination-standards-for.html
Radioactive Bananas? Peeling The Mystery; via A Green Road http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/03/radioactive-bananas-peeling-mystery.html
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Whatever reactors are now operating, as far as is known, they are doing so naked, exposed and 100% liable, because the insurance policy got cancelled on TEPCO long ago.
So how do they operate any of these NUKII plants with NO INSURANCE?
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@tomarsandbeyond
August 19, 2012 at 3:13 pm
Yes. Instead of Atomic bomb survivor data and external radiation data base he should look as you have pointed out at internal radiation effects on the reproduction process:
Check out Muller Figure 4 at
http://plutoniumaradiumabillionpeoplehitdna.blogspot.in/2007/12/health-effects-of-worldwide-nuclear.html
how dramatically tragic
the pronounced effects the parents' damaged genes have on the offspring(human species).
Nuclear power, no thanks after the truth dawns…
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"..Even though officials have now turned two back on, the hardships and economic disruptions induced by this policy will be enormous and will dwarf any danger from the reactors themselves…"
what a load of paranoid rubbish! imo!
i think i can feel a ……
I Am Fishead – Documentary Film (2011) (for anyone who missed it)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUbjaI3X5Qk
…….moment coming on!
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There was quite a bit of discussion of Muller and his article here before it became a new headline thread. For the sake of completeness:
http://enenews.com/tepco-manager-thought-situation-could-ruining-country-reactor-2-start-burning-inside-cool-video/comment-page-1#comment-280753
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There are already active threads on this discussion
Aigeezer found interesting links on this now repentant (sort of) climate change denier (http://enenews.com/japan-times-fukushima-daini-written-off-reactors-no-5-and-6-at-daiichi-also-japan-policy-minister-plants-should-never-be-restarted/comment-page-1#comment-280779):
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/richard-muller-koch-brothers-funded-scientist-declares-global-warming-real-article-1.969870
http://hro001.wordpress.com/2011/10/31/will-the-real-richard
Joy noted (August 18, 2012 at 11:04 pm):
[Joy] While ALL reports of contamination levels from Japan are highly suspect, Muller's assertion of .1 rem means absolutely zip without the required time qualifier. .1 rem per what? The normal dose designation is per hour. The deception forwarded by his comparison to ANNUAL gamma background in Denver would appear to be per year, but that isn't specified, is it?
.1 rem/hr adds up to 873.6 rem/year. Which is certainly not an insignificant dose. [end quote from Joy]
Majia here: The guy has a long publication record but no experience with the biological effects of radiation at all.
http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/im-tired-of-troll-jousting-over.html
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majia modestly omitted the review of his new book that she found which said in part "Muller believes that nuclear energy is still a safe energy source and it is important that we not give up on it. He also discusses the Deep water Horizon accident in the gulf, which spurted oil into the sea for seemingly endless days. He also felt that the damage was grossly exaggerated and attempted put it in perspective. He felt the cleanup activities worked well."
http://enenews.com/japan-times-fukushima-daini-written-off-reactors-no-5-and-6-at-daiichi-also-japan-policy-minister-plants-should-never-be-restarted/comment-page-1#comment-280779
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Ouch – I just realized that in citing Muller's stuff without commenting on it I might be perceived as endorsing it.
I don't endorse it in the slightest – it is outrageous.
That feels better. Thanks for reading.
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here is UC Berkey team of proper scientists (if shy
)doing some proper research unlike the politician above
"..Now, as of February 2012, there is still radioactivity in the milk. The University of California, Berkeley, Department of Nuclear Engineering, has been on the case — even though the EPA itself has shown itself to be another industry lapdog…..
A year later, we still have cesium-134 and cesium-137 in the milk. UC Berkeley measures it at 150 per cent of the legal level. At 4.5 picocuries per litre, the February 2012 milk samples have exceeded the EPA’s own legal threshold of 3 picocuries / litre, making the current milk radioactively contaminated by their own definition. Note also that milk is but one transmission path for radiation to enter the body, and radiation is passed along in the air, water and food as well.
Radiation trapped within cells can cause “cellular disruption” leading to the death of the cell, or worse, to unchecked cellular reproduction: cancer. “Nuclear radiation is the most carcinogenic thing that exists, and it cannot be kept under control, as the Fukushima tragedy proved,” said the head of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology, Carmelo Iacono…"
http://nuclear-news.net/2012/03/26/a-deeply-corrupt-nuclear-industry/
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We need to multiply UCB's "scientific" results of tests of radioactivity by whatever number we are using for Tepco's "measurements," because UCB is the same, except more effective at spreading disinformation, they don't get caught as often.
I will never forget seeing a local news show after Fukushima was officially raised to a level "7" accident, and UCB Nuclear Engineering Professor Jasmina Vujic expressed her outrage for the camera, not about the harm to babies in Fukushima, but that the level was too high. She was so angry that her body was shaking, and pledged that they would work to…lower the level. Even Tepco did not go there, as far as I know.
I have never watched the news again.
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a shocking memory to hold no nukes.. but her fear was hidden by righteous indignation in her mind i suspect.
peace
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You are wise, arclight.
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This would be a great item for a video propaganda footage.
Does there any Youtube video exist with that person foaming?
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NoNukes…I remember when you spoke of this and we talked months ago. That is the UCB Nuclear Engineering Department. The highly suspect, bogus testing was done by a sub group called the "BRAWM" team (Berkeley Radiological Air & Water Monitoring team). I remember our chats and that neither of us had any faith in the academics' findings.
Also, Richard Muller, UCB Physics Dept., was a climate change denier until just recently when he reversed his position in a NYT oped piece. I don't know about the validity of what I am about to say, but I did hear on the radio, on one of the lefty channels that prior to his reversal, Muller had been being paid for his climate change denying research by the Koch Bros.
Muller looks like an opportunist to me, looking to make sure his bread is buttered quite adequately.
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The tragedy is to those profitting from forcing nuclear power upon Japan and the world.
The industry is unsafe.
It is lethal.
It isn't as though we are going to get out of this unscathed by shutting down the nuclear industry.
Humanity is yet to pay the price for the on-going nuclear crisis known as Fukushima Npp.
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The background radiation levels do matter. The industry has not told the truth as to how high these levels are. If one in two who get cancer in their lifetimes is an acceptable number, then we are not civilized at all. This number will rise exponentially over the next decade. Radiation does not go anywhere. It just bioaccumulates and physically accumulates.
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Oh no we will face tragedy in couple of years also here in Germany when all nuclear power plants will be shut down. HELP
Shutting down NPP's is the best thing we will face in our life. For energy we don't need them, there are better / cleaner sources. But no they have to create plutonium and such in NPP's for nuclear weapons and trips to Mars and things like satellites and experiments.. Well i hope they soon go live on Mars and take their shit with them.
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How about all those children in Fukushima Prefecture (2/3) with thyroid tumors??? That is a tragdey! And there are many more to reveal themself.
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As Ronald Rayguns would say: "There you go again Dr. Muller".
SP: The old lie that natural radiation is equivalent to nuclear power plant releases.
The lie that the Japanese government accurately measured the air radiation toxins, much less the contaminants in fish, crops, and drinking water. We know they used nefarious methods to lower the true air pollution. Monitors on very tall poles or from airplanes. Removing soil from underneath monitors and placing steel plates underneath.
Dr. Muller is going to be remembered for his false assertions.
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UC Berkeley guy needs to learn facts: Fukushima is spewing cesium on crops in Japan and America. Radiating marine life, and it released plutonium into our environment. Also needs to learn that "plutonium kills".
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The whole world is already polluted by nuclear fallout, (bomb)test, power plants. People get cancer from it, not to forget animals also. Cigarettes give cancer because they suck up a particular particle. The storage for nuclear waste is enormous and lasts for many thousand of years, no way to guarantee save storage over such a long time. But nuclear power is so clean i have to understand by 'the experts'. No comes geo engineering, Pump sulfur in the air it blocks the sun so the Earth can cool down.. Sure but i know what sulfur does to living things it's poison! Nature is acting crazy because of all the shit from nuclear fallout, other industry and geo engineering, Ow let us experiment with HAARP.. whoops we just shot holes in the ozone layer.. Sssst…
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Cigarettes give cancer because [edit]the tobacco plant[/edit] sucks up a particular particle
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No comes = Now comes
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I know Chris Busby is drifting in open waters strumming that guitar and laughing (or crying) at this nonsense. Comparing the hot spots in Japan to Denver background radiation? How preposterous.
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When one of those idiot professors starts to pontificate, turn down your miracle ear.
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As I stated in another thread this guy is the climate denier hired by the Koch brothers to do a study for them, and then decided to change his prospective. He got some air time on TYT I believe and stated his previous thinking about global warming was flawed.
This report is pure BS in so many ways, there is no information in this article that even merits comment.
Murdoch buys the WSJ and it becomes the National Enquirer.
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Btw, can't wait till Gundersen gets a hold of this article.
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Whose payroll is this Muller guy on?
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I'll go rogue (again) with this question…
When panic sets in left hand looses track of right hand and the panicked ones start turning upon each other…
Richard Muller is marketing natural gas in a “converted skeptic” costume
Rod Adams · August 4, 2012
The persistent effort to damn nuclear energy by completely ignoring its well known capabilities in a discussion about solutions to CO2 emissions is blindingly obvious to me, but that is because I view the world through a rather uniquely focused lens. The messaging is subtle enough to be overlooked by almost everyone else. In order to share my thoughts and their bases as widely as possible, I am classifying this post as a smoking gun and calling out Richard Muller as a natural gas salesman in a “converted skeptic” costume.
http://atomicinsights.com/2012/08/richard-muller-is-marketing-natural-gas-in-a-converted-skeptic-costume.html
LOL!
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Tunnel Vision, viewing the world through a uniquely focused lens…
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LOL Jebus, great find! Atomic Rod, the Commander Master Chief Engineer and ProNuke Posterboy.
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And a rod he is.
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Jebus…Telling what is true is not going rogue! I posted the info about Muller and Koch above, before I saw your post.
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Yes, but as Ramblin Rod see's it, Muller is a traitor to the Pukers and a lapdog to the Natural Gas industry. Go figure.
He posted his article before Muller came out with the topic article.
left hand, right hand, with tunnel vision…
A pack of chipmunks will turn on each other when totally stressed out…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyj7Q-2i0-A
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Has Dr. Muller been to Fukushima…has he visited the plant???
Why not? If he knows so much about Nuclear energy why doesn't he go there…fix those plants up and get them started again????….
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Every single nuclear-pusher should go to Fukushima and assist in the cleanup instead of sitting in their offices miles away and pontificating that nuclear energy is safe.
If it's so safe, they should put their money where their mouths are and work around high levels of radiation for awhile.
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Their rhetoric has not changed one iota since 311. Here's proof.
From – FORUM: Links to news articles, reports, and posts that contain false or misleading information:
http://enenews.com/forum-links-articles-reports-posts-contain-false-misleading-information-related-energy-issues/comment-page-1#comment-232097
[re-post] ·
UCB – BERKELEY 'experts' and their early comments.
Just for the record your honor.
This IS what they said.
This IS when they said it.
1. U.S. Safe From Japan Radiation, BERKELEY Lab Expert Says
| March 22, 2011 ·
http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stories/2011/03/22/mckone-q-a/
2. Radiation fears unfounded, campus expert says:
UC BERKELEY New Center, Media Relations
| March 17, 2011 ·
http://bnrc.berkeley.edu/latest/radiation-fears-unfounded-campus-expert-says
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I don't get it. This Dr. Muller guy, while an accomplished scientist/scholar type, has absolutely no background in medicine so how come he is such an expert to say the radiation from three melted out reactors is safe or even that nuclear is safe?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_A._Muller
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Just a paid shill/hired researcher gaining prestige by standing up for the big guys.
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The statement makes perfect sense when you despise your progeny and the thought of a sound future for them.
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