Fukushima Daichi insiders warn Tokyo may become unihabitable

[Cjay]

Fukushima Daichi insiders warn Tokyo may become unihabitable if an earthquake or typhoon causes a storage pool to collapse.

The report was broadcast on Australian ABC television Channel 2 on a program called 7:30 (at 7:30 AEST 25-June-2012)

For people in Australia who missed it, you can watch it here:
http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/series/3152075 (http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/series/3152075)
Click the play symbol on the 7:30 logo, then skip to about 14 minutes.

For people outside Australia, sorry, the story is blocked "due to copyright reasons" (if you believe that excuse).

Below is a transcript from Australian ABC Radio show "PM" on the same topic.




MARK COLVIN: It's being described as a global catastrophe waiting to happen; a pool brimming with hundreds of tonnes of spent nuclear fuel rods perched 30 metres above the ground in a shattered building next to a damaged reactor.

Much has been made of the meltdowns in reactors one, two and three at Fukushima, less of the precarious state of the fuel storage pool in reactor four.

Japanese and US nuclear experts have told the ABC that another large earthquake which caused the damaged pool to drain, could spark a catastrophic nuclear fire. That would likely release 10 times more radioactive caesium than was emitted during the Chernobyl disaster.

The operator TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) says the pool, which contains 1,500 nuclear fuel assemblies, is stable and can withstand another large quake. But the company admits that it has no way of removing the rods right now because all its vital equipment is damaged beyond repair.

North Asia correspondent, Mark Willacy, reports from Fukushima.

MARK WILLACY: They sit in the gloom, inside a pool open to the elements, five floors up, inside a shattered building.

1535 nuclear fuel assemblies, most of them containing highly radioactive spent fuel rods.

ROBERT ALVAREZ: The spent fuel pool in number four at Fukushima contains roughly ten times more caesium 137 than released by the Chernobyl accident.

MARK WILLACY: Robert Alvarez is a former senior policy advisor to the US secretary of energy. He fears another powerful earthquake could set off a catastrophe, bigger than what's already happened at Fukushima.

ROBERT ALVAREZ: The drainage of water caused by an earthquake or the toppling of the pool, which would be the worst possible consequence, could result in essentially the cladding around the spent fuel, which is made of an alloy of zirconium, to heat up and catch fire. And then there would be a massive release of radioactivity.

The major isotope of concern would be caesium 137. And it would involve about 10 times more radioactivity than released at Chernobyl.

MARK WILLACY: The operator of the nuclear plant, TEPCO, rejects this saying the fuel pool is stable.

But recently, the company was forced to admit that one of the reinforced walls of the pool had bulged slightly after last year's massive quake.

(Yoshimi Hitsogui speaking)

"We checked the condition of the wall the other day", TEPCO spokesman Yoshimi Hitosugi tells me. "The bulge was confirmed along part of it. But we do not think that it will have any effect on the soundness of the pool" he says.

But TEPCO's sanguine assessment of the fuel pool doesn't wash with some experts.

Hiroaki Koide is a senior nuclear reactor engineer at Japan's prestigious Kyoto University, and he warns that TEPCO is playing with fire.

(Hiroaki Koide speaking)

"If there's a crack in the pool and the water drains out the fuel rods will be exposed" Hiroaki Koide tells me. "It will then be impossible to cool the fuel. So if an accident happens, 10 times more caesium than has already been released by the Fukushima meltdowns will go into the atmosphere. Depending on which way the wind is blowing, Tokyo could become uninhabitable" he says.

MITSUHEI MURATA: I call it the sickness of Japan. Colloquially it can be explained that first, we hide; then we postpone; and then we assume no responsibility.

MARK WILLACY: Mitsuhei Murata is a former Japanese ambassador to Switzerland and a career diplomat who fears for the future of his nation.

Mr Murata is highly sceptical of TEPCO's assurances that everything at Fukushima is under control.

MITSUHEI MURATA: TEPCO and the government of Japan not only lacks the ability but the intention.

MARK WILLACY: So in your opinion, if there was a problem with that fuel pool it would be the end of Japan?

MITSUHEI MURATA: Yes. And there is no one who denies that.

MARK WILLACY: Until recently the only thing protecting the number four fuel pool from the elements was a plastic sheet.

Nuclear engineer Hiroaki Koide argues that TEPCO's main priority should be getting the hundreds of tonnes of spent nuclear fuel out of the pool and into safe storage.

(Hiroaki Koide speaking)
"As soon as possible, those fuel rods should be removed" he says. "Earthquakes are striking almost every day around the Fukushima plant, so I'm praying the big one won't hit" he tells me.

Despite Hiroaki Koide's anxiety, TEPCO doesn't seem to be in a hurry, and the company admits that even if it wanted to extract the fuel rods from the pool it couldn't.

(Yoshimi Hitsogui speaking)

"The original method was to take out the spent fuel by crane attached to the ceiling of the building", says TEPCO spokesman Yoshimi Hitosugi. "But that's been damaged. So we are thinking of installing a crane for this. We would like to start removing the fuel sometime next year" he says.

Until then, many in Japan are holding their breath.

And in far away Washington, former US government advisor, Robert Alvarez, fears a disaster greater in scope than Chernobyl.

ROBERT ALVAREZ: Nothing like this has ever happened before. This is a problem that, if such an event were to occur, it would be of an international dimension.

MARK WILLACY: So every time the earth rumbles, ripples spread across the surface of the number four fuel pool, and hearts flutter 240 kilometres away here in Tokyo.

MARK COLVIN: Mark Willacy, who travelled to Fukushima to prepare that report and put it together back in Tokyo. His television report can be seen tonight on ABC TV's 7.30 program.
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-25/experts-warn-of-nuclear-fire-at-fukushima/4091748 (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-25/experts-warn-of-nuclear-fire-at-fukushima/4091748)

[SnowyOwl]

All thanks to Iori

*Just In* Fukushima Worker: Concrete reinforcement of Spent Fuel Pool No. 4 is terribly deteriorating… now in a “dangerous state” — Cooling system stopped working, men helicoptered in



Published: December 11th, 2012 at 3:08 pm ET
By ENENews (http://enenews.com/author/admin)


On December 11, 2012, Japanese journalist Iwakami Yasumi received this email from Mitsuhei Murata, former Japanese ambassador to Switzerland
I received this message on 12/9/2012.
The pump of the SFP in reactor4 had been having the spotty trouble, but it went out of order on 12/8/2012 at the end.
Nuclear workers were collected for emergency to replace the pump but it takes more 2~3 days to fix they say. (Extra workers were brought by helicopter even at night.)
According to a nuclear worker collected for emergency, the concrete to reinforce the SFP is terribly deteriorating to be in the “dangerous state”.


cf; http://enenews.com/fukushima-worker-concrete-reinforcement-of-spent-fuel-pool-no-4-is-terribly-deteriorating-in-a-dangerous-state

[panopticon]

For those who are interested.

The live feed from TEPCO of the Fukushima cam is here (http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/f1-np/camera/).

Archived footage (1 hour intervals) is here (http://www.youtube.com/user/fuku1live).

Live feed from TBS/JNN is here:

93UQg5OqyxU
Kind Regards, :yo:
Panopticon

[TargeT]

How to judge fear porn:

ZERO DATA & incredible statements (over the top usually, such as "Tokyo may become uninhabitable")

Only data on the threat I could find in the post:

The major isotope of concern would be caesium 137. And it would involve about 10 times more radioactivity than released at Chernobyl.

From an ANTI-Nuclear site (you KNOW they won't sugar coat it):

Average effective doses to those persons most affected by the accident (at Chernobyl) were assessed to be about 120 mSv
http://www.unscear.org/unscear/en/chernobyl.html


so 10 x 120 mSv = 1200 mSv... which is SO LOW its hilarious

Lets review:


850 R/milli-second ............................ Fatally burned one man: 3 survived same dose.

60,000 R/hr @ 1 minute .....................Kills rats: approx same as UV light from electric arc welder.

7000 R ...............................................Ind ividual medical dose for cancer therapy.

200 R/hour ........................................ Near Chernobyl #4 reactor 1 week after accident (1986)
(one hundredth medical dose for cancer therapy).

1 Sievert .............................................One hundred Roentgen.

60 R/hour ...........................................Human cells OK - self-repair during exposure.

1 R/min @ 1 meter ...................... One Curie (one gram radium) (won’t burn skin).

1 R .................................................. ....One Roentgen (rem) = .01 sievert

Milli-R ................................................. One thousandth Roentgen.

150 milli-R/year ................................. Average natural background exposure from natural sources.

Micro-R (1 μR) ................................... One millionth Roentgen.

60 micro-R/hr .................................... N.E.C. prescribed off-site limit (outside the fence).

25 micro-R/hour ............................... Off-site dose at Three Mile Island #2 one week after “incident.”

20 micro-R/hour ................................ Average natural background radiation.

1 Micro Sievert (1 μSv)...................... One ten thousandth Roentgen.
Nano-Curie ........................................ One billionth Curie.

1 becquerel (Bq)................................ .027 billionth (.000000000027) Curie
5.25 nano-Curies/literIodine-131 ....... Rainwater tested in Portland, OR after Chernobyl.

4.9 nano-Curies/liter Potassium-40 ... Common salad oil in super market.

Pico-Curie ........................................... One trillionth Curie.

5 pico-Curies/liter .............................. Government radium limit for drinking water.

4 pico-Curies/min/ltr of air ..................EPA’s limit for radon in homes.
Galen Winsor



Want me to keep going or do you see the JOKE now?


very indepth discussion of radiation here:
http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?46819-A-video-they-won-t-want-you-to-see--Galen-Winsor-nuclear-scam-&p=513674#post513674

Please educate your self before you believe what I or anyone else (ESPECIALY THE MSM) tell you.

[panopticon]

How to judge fear porn:

ZERO DATA & increadable statements (over the top usualy, such as "tokyo may become uninhabitable")


G'day TargeT,

Nice post.
You are completely correct in saying that there is no life threatening immediate threat from Fukushima in its present state of disrepair (eg Tokyo is still habitable, the ocean off Fukushima only has a small radioactive deposit from fluid dumping etc). However, to dismiss the entire Fukushima nuclear accident as "fear porn" is ridiculous.

So far the maximum dosage received by employees @ Fukushima is 0.67 Sv.
In the event of a collapse of SFP in #4 the level of contamination to the local area, and possible wider effects that would follow on from this, are very hard to imagine.

By calling this "fear porn" you are saying that it is not something that should be watched, and with TEPCO's previous track record that is just plain dumb.
Kind Regards, :yo:
Panopticon

[TargeT]

How to judge fear porn:

ZERO DATA & increadable statements (over the top usualy, such as "tokyo may become uninhabitable")


G'day TargeT,

Nice post.
You are completely correct in saying that there is no life threatening immediate threat from Fukushima in its present state of disrepair (eg Tokyo is still habitable, the ocean off Fukushima only has a small radioactive deposit from fluid dumping etc). However, to dismiss the entire Fukushima nuclear accident as "fear porn" is ridiculous.

So far the maximum dosage received by employees @ Fukushima is 0.67 Sv.
In the event of a collapse of SFP in #4 the level of contamination to the local area, and possible wider effects that would follow on from this, are very hard to imagine.

By calling this "fear porn" you are saying that it is not something that should be watched, and with TEPCO's previous track record that is just plain dumb.
Kind Regards, :yo:
Panopticon

Can you please show me where you got the .67 Sv (still FAR below damaging levels, but far higher than any level I have seen reported so far). number from? that's the highest ( BY FAR) I've ever seen, and I look into this stuff.

I am not saying the Tsunami was not a terrible incident with HUGE amounts of damage; very bad for the people there to be sure (as well as quake damage)

the level of contamination in the local area is listed at 1200 mSv if the "worst happens", are you saying this number is incorrect, do you have another data set that you are working off of (like your .67sV number, are you sure it wasn't mSv?)?

I am simply analyzing the numbers released by these articles, nothing else.


and to be clear, I am calling it fear porn because it is meant to induce fear over a topic that should not be a fearful one.

THIS DOES NOT imply that we should not watch the situation, it just implies that the tone and purpose of the article is to cause a fearful reaction
I suppose that term is not well defined & apparently everyone has their own take on it.. Mine does not match with yours.

[SnowyOwl]

Salutations Target,

I post the Update in this thread since as a provisional members I cannot start a thread.

On her visit in Montreal I was please to meet Dr. Helen Caldicott, the author of the fallout of Tchernobyl.

You are right when you say to not believe MSM since it is propaganda, if you have a good stomach , watch the ref of the doc at http://www.helencaldicott.com/

After taking knowledge of it you will agree that you have never seen such horror even in disgusting horror film.

BTW
According to Mr. Murata, former Japanese ambassador in Switzerland, the coolant system of SFP of reactor4 was stopped from 12/8 to 12/11, and the concrete base is terribly damaged already.
Knowing this trouble, mass media did not report it at all.
http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/12/murata-ex-jp-ambassador-the-coolant-system-of-reactor4-was-broken-1281211-the-concrete-base-is-terribly-deteriorating/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FukushimaDiary+%28Fukushima+Diary%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Hope this help
Snowy

[SnowyOwl]

Here is the trailer of the softest film on the reality http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COvUwn6yxFc

Children of Chernobyl (WARNING: Graphic Images)

This video contains graphic images.Over two decades on, heres a depiction of what some people are doing to help those most vulnerable to one of man... | 7:12 | 2 years ago |
Chernobyl Children Life Line (Guernsey Link) (http://chernobyl-children.com/)


Only 5% of children in the Chernobyl region are left healthy. ... Babies are born with many different deformities. © Chernobyl Children Life Line Guernsey Link 1999 ...
chernobyl-children.com

[TargeT]

Helen Mary Caldicott (born 7 August 1938) is an Australian physician, author, and anti-nuclear advocate who has founded several associations dedicated to opposing the use of nuclear power, depleted uranium munitions, nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons proliferation, war and military action in general

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Caldicott

Sounds like a credible source of information, no bias what-so-ever I'm sure!

http://www.helencaldicott.com/nottheanswer.jpg

(really, a wilting flower? plants show direct benefit of radiation with vigorous growth being the most obvious)





Thank you for that excelent example of a "fear porn" author.

[panopticon]

Can you please show me where you got the .67 Sv (still FAR below damaging levels, but far higher than any level I have seen reported so far). number from? that's the highest ( BY FAR) I've ever seen, and I look into this stuff.


G'day TargeT,

The source of the figures is TEPCO's official handout from 6th December 2012 that breaks down age of, and exposure levels to, employees and contractors:

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/images/handouts_121206_01-e.pdf

For those who don't know 1000 mSv = 1 Sv

It states that maximum exposure to employees was 678.8 mSv (1 employee age 30-39), 645.54 mSv (1 employee age 40-49) and 477.01 mSv (3 employees age 20-29).

It indicates that this maximum level of exposure was to only a small number of employees and that the vast majority were exposed to between 20 and 100 mSv.

In relation to Dr. Helen Caldicott. She is very highly respected and extremely knowledgeable in her field of expertise. She has dedicated much of her life (she is 74 years young) to explaining the dangers of nuclear weapons and nuclear power (not just energy production by the way). She is what I call a Personal Truth Speaker.

In another thread I posted the following in relation to Caldicott:



Before I post anything I want to say that it is, in my view, always important to present an anti-nuclear dialogue. The history of radiation exposure (whether deliberate, accidental or through negligence) by Corporations and Governments throughout the world is something that should always be bought to the forefront and must, again in my opinion, be remembered. The way in which the various societal discursive processes are framed is directly influenced by very powerful, controlling and wealthy groups who want any opposition to the "nuclear option" put in the extremist/activist classification. Until the tragic sequence of events at Fukushima this had been largely successful.

An opponent of the "nuclear industry" for nearly four decades, Helen Caldicott (http://www.helencaldicott.com/about/) (yet another Australian by the way, we really are opinionated colonials ain't we) has been a vocal advocate for the medical professions fight against any acceptance of a "nuclear option" for reasons of war, energy and certain medical practices. The following talk was given by her at the 'Chernobyl Congress 2011' to a group of her peers, all medical practitioners, a month after the Japanese tsunami (that led to the Fukushima accident). The talk is titled "The Medical and Political Implications of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle" and includes EMP's, Yeltsin, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, the reptilian brain, and much more (it really is an exceptional presentation though please remember that she is talking to a certain "crowd" if you don't agree with aspects of her presentation):


http://vimeo.com/22579986
http://vimeo.com/22579986

The IPPNW report on Chernobyl ('The Health Effects Of Chernobyl: 25 Years After the Reactor Catastrophy (http://www.chernobylcongress.org/fileadmin/user_upload/pdfs/chernob_report_2011_en_web.pdf)') mentioned by Stubblebine is available from the Chernobyl Congress (http://www.chernobylcongress.org/) website. For those interested much of the source information for Stubblebine's video appears to come from Akio Matsumura (http://akiomatsumura.com/2012/04/682.html).


There are many who disagree with her perspective, in particular George Monbiot, however I view that it is the presentation of alternate perspectives and opinions that produce understanding and from this show how power is controlled by vested interest groups.
Kind Regards, :yo:
Panopticon

[panopticon]

BTW if people want to know why I am anti-nuclear.

Stanislav Petrov (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov).

y6WvXxMkBWg
The Cuban Missile Crisis - Another appointment with annihilation averted.

Cc0eUtBAWyA
Little Boy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Boy) and Fat Man (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_Man) - Between 150,000 & 250,000 dead

NF4LQaWJRDg
I do not trust that my personal best interests, nor those of the world at large, are served by boiling water through nuclear fission.
Kind Regards, :yo:
Panopticon

[SnowyOwl]

There is a good news Panopticon that I am happy to share with you, Bill Suite,members and lurkers.

As you know, many, if not the majority of Aware people on the significance of Fukushima Daiichi status have thrown the towel but not all.

The pattern of nuclears sites 4, as ..''Once is an Event, Twice is a Pattern und Thrice is a Program'' have not discorage stubborn Ones. The Multidisciplinary and transversal synergic group have been able to some degree to replicate the effect of Prussian Blue Pigments wich attracts and agglomerate radio-nucleides, thus making it easier to manage since it will be less disperse and more confine. A small step yes, but at least we are now free of statism.

Yes despite its apparent non-sense, we must put the brake on immobilism. and it as been done.

At least and at last, the stubborn nutshell of no solution possible has broken and has began to germinate.

Snowy

[panopticon]

There is a good news Panopticon that I am happy to share with you, Bill Suite,members and lurkers.


G'day Snowy,

Could you provide a link to something for further information please.
Your post doesn't make much sense. Maybe you translated it into English?
Kind Regards, :yo:
Panopticon

[SnowyOwl]

Prussian Blue - Radiation Emergency Medical Management (http://www.remm.nlm.gov/prussianblue.htm)


Radiogardase-Cs Fe4[Fe(Cn6)]3 top of page. Reference Links. CDC resources. Facts about Prussian Blue; Prussian Blue Fact Sheet (PDF - 79 KB) FDA ...
www.remm.nlm.gov/prussianblue.htm


MEDSort - Drug Information Page for RADIOGARDASE (PRUSSIAN ... (http://drugs.medsort.com/drugs/DrugSpecificProfile.aspx?MedID=606)


Show Comments that relate to all doses of RADIOGARDASE (PRUSSIAN BLUE) Show Comments that are specific to RADIOGARDASE (PRUSSIAN BLUE) CAPSULE 500MG
drugs.medsort.com/drugs/DrugSpecificProfile.aspx?MedID=606

Sorry, an old habbit of 10 yrs in Public Health
Snowy

[TargeT]

I do not trust that my personal best interests, nor those of the world at large, are served by boiling water through nuclear fission.
Kind Regards, :yo:
Panopticon

I do not think you are anti-nuclear, you are anti-nuclear weapons.

Have you ever heard of a LFTR (Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor)? did you know we had one running for 10 years in the US? Did you know that NO nuclear weapons can be made from this, that it produces no harmful waste and uses Thorium, the most common isotope on the planet (it's often referred to as "burning rocks").

If you have not fully investigated the Nuclear options & its various applications, or the fact that radiation is indeed GOOD for you (at the majority of measurable levels, mSv and Sv included see : http://www.amazon.com/Underexposed-What-Radiation-Actually-Good/dp/0930073355 ) then saying that you are "anti-nuclear" is similar to saying you are racist.

I despise racism or any ignorant bigotry. "anti nuclear" included.

I agree with you on the weapons side, and I agree with you on the currently widely used "breeder" reactors (which are in fact just used to refine yellow cake for weapons, power is a side effect and not anywhere near the main purpose, this is why it is assumed that ANY country seeking nuclear power is going after weapons... because with a breeder reactor, this is exactly the case).

[SnowyOwl]

FYI TargeT

Nuclear weapons suddenly easier with 'wonder fuel'

New source abundant, processing possible with simple lab equipment

Published: 23 hours ago


The International Atomic Energy Agency has identified the radioactive material thorium as a fuel to power existing and new electrical generation plants, but a new study shows that along with this plentiful “wonder fuel” comes a dangerous weapons proliferation risk.
The processing of just 3,200 pounds of raw thorium metal would yield 18 pounds of uranium-233, an amount the agency considers to be enough to construct a nuclear weapon, evidence shows. And a nuclear reactor using thorium for a fuel source would generate that amount of uranium in less than a year.
Further, the processing of the fuel could be done with simple laboratory equipment, negating the need for sophisticated centrifuges that could be easily hidden from IAEA inspectors.


Nuclear is DEAD END TargeT
As you say, get informed
http://www.wnd.com/2012/12/nuclear-weapons-suddenly-easier-with-wonder-fuel/


Snowy

[TargeT]

3,200 lbs of thorium would be so much power... why would anyone ever need that much? I don't want to replace centralized power with centralized power, we need thorium reactors in houses, or at least powering small communities, decentralized, distributed power is the only way to free the power control structure yoke from our necks.

you can hold enough thorium in your hand to power your entire life time (current "western" power consumption).
http://policyprojects.ac.nz/frasernicholas/files/2011/11/thoriumInYourHand.gif

it is MUCH much harder to weaponize thorium as only a very small amount of thorium 232 turns into thorium 233 during the reaction, it would then have to be chemically purified.

regardless, unless some other source of power arises, you are effectively supporting the energy barons & continuing wide spread suppression of humanity by not allowing easy energy to proliferate.

LFTR is safe, viable & very difficult to weaponize, it is a much better option than the current breeder reactors.

I do not support energy suppression, I think the un-intended consequences of your prohibition are much worse than intelligent use of resources (plus, also unrealistic).


I feel I am pretty informed, your brief google search did not result in a very accurate / realistic article.

[panopticon]

G'day TargeT,

Thanks for the response.



I do not think you are anti-nuclear, you are anti-nuclear weapons.

Have you ever heard of a LFTR (Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor)? did you know we had one running for 10 years in the US? Did you know that NO nuclear weapons can be made from this, that it produces no harmful waste and uses Thorium, the most common isotope on the planet (it's often referred to as "burning rocks").


I am both anti-nuclear weapons and anti-nuclear industry.
Both centralise Money, Control and Power as a means of disempowering the individual.

Yes, I am aware of Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors, though my knowledge in this field is not to the same level as yours.

It is my understanding that the Thorium fuel cycle requires the use of a fissile material (eg U-233, U-235, Pu-239) to sustain a reaction (if this is incorrect please forgive my ignorance on the subject). Also there are a large number of designs that have operated and all have various problems (from the use of beryllium to the production of toxic substances [Pa-231, Th-229, Th-230 with high toxicity and long half lives not to mention various water soluble fluorides]) however it is a safer option to the present breeder reactors (in particular, as I understand it, the reaction stops quicker in the event of system failure) and is a viable alternative given the predicted Uranium Peak mid 21st Century (though Peak Uranium is debatable with breeder reactors, uranium extraction/processing improvements etc).

Aker's design (http://www.akersolutions.com/en/Global-menu/Media/Press-Releases/All/2010/Aker-Solutions-wins-Energy-Award-at-IChemE-for-its-innovative-ADTRTM-power-station/) is quite impressive with its use of nuclear waste as a means of generating a sustained reaction. There are still toxic wastes produced by this process and to say otherwise really does not help.



If you have not fully investigated the Nuclear options & its various applications, or the fact that radiation is indeed GOOD for you (at the majority of measurable levels, mSv and Sv included see : http://www.amazon.com/Underexposed-What-Radiation-Actually-Good/dp/0930073355 ) then saying that you are "anti-nuclear" is similar to saying you are racist.
I despise racism or any ignorant bigotry. "anti nuclear" included.


So now I'm a racist because I have investigated the issues and evaluated the benefits/costs of the various approaches. Thanks for that.

As for radiation being good for human biology...
I guess it can be said that using evolutionary theory the proliferation of toxic substances in the environment could lead to an alteration in human physiology. Whether this is a good or bad thing is subjective. I remember a presentation I saw in the early 1980's that put forward the hypothesis that a natural nuclear reactor could have led to the mutation in our ancestors that sparked our evolutionary branch. I remember it being in Tanzania but it's been a few weeks so I might be wrong on that...

It is well documented that organism adapt, through mutation for example, to their environment. The "survival of the fittest" pre-determinator leads to those characteristics that benefit an organism being transmitted into the next generations via natural selection. There are many examples of this and radiation leads to mutation which increases diversity (though many mutations are not beneficial, take the correlation between glioma tumours (http://www.cancervic.org.au/about-cancer/cancer_types/brain_tumour) and mobile phones for example). I guess it depends on whether the mutation is beneficial to the organism. There have been quite a few studies on the effect of various levels of radiation on plants and animals but I'm sure you're aware of these.

Please don't mistake the fact that an organism can survive, and adapt to, low radiation levels to mean that radiation is beneficial to that organism. On the web there are many reports of animals and plants flourishing in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. What is not reported is that there is a reduced number of humans there to kill them and that some of the mutations found have not been beneficial to the species. As an example here's the concluding passage from a 2011 paper titled Chernobyl Birds Have Smaller Brains (http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0016862):


In conclusion, birds of a large range of common species showed reduced brain size as reflected by head volume in heavily contaminated areas around Chernobyl, consistent with the hypothesis that radioactive contamination has significant negative effects on normal brain development, and that such effects in birds cannot be attributed to post-traumatic stress as done for humans.



I agree with you on the weapons side, and I agree with you on the currently widely used "breeder" reactors (which are in fact just used to refine yellow cake for weapons, power is a side effect and not anywhere near the main purpose, this is why it is assumed that ANY country seeking nuclear power is going after weapons... because with a breeder reactor, this is exactly the case).

I agree with the above statement.
Kind Regards, :yo:
Panopticon