Sorry to inform you, but that is completely false. To even entertain that notion for a second is incredibly arrogant and ethno-centric thinking. It is ignorant and shows a complete lack of knowledge on human history. Be very suspicious of those who make these kinds of idiotic claims as they certainly are not steeped in factual information. In this article, I will let you be the judge of that.
August, 1975: The Banqiao Dam flood in China. 100,000 immediately killed, plus over 150,000 died of subsequent epidemic diseases and famine, total deal toll around 250,000, making it the worst technical disaster ever happened in history.
March 16, 1978: The Amoco Cadiz spill. An oil tanker sank spilling of 68,684,000 US Gallons of crude oil (nearly ten times that of Exxon Valdez). This is the largest oil spill of its kind (from an oil tanker) in history.
April 26, 1986:Chernobyl disaster. At the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Prypiat, Ukraine a test on reactor number four goes out of control, resulting in a nuclear meltdown. The ensuing steam explosion and fire killed up to 50 people with estimates that there may be between 4,000 additional cancer deaths over time.
October 21, 1966:Aberfan disaster killing 116 children and 28 adults.
There are many more disasters and accident listed at the Wikipedia site. There's thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, more that are not listed on Wikipedia. Lots of accidents and disasters. Lots of deaths. Fukushima nuclear reactor accident deaths as of today, four months after the disaster began? 0. Zero. None. Nada. Zip. 全然. 無し. ありません。
Oh, and if you want a disaster that displaced more than 1,000 people and is still going on decades later, here's an interesting one:
May 1962: The Centralia, Pennsylvania coal mine fire began, forcing the gradual evacuation of the Centralia borough. The fire continues to burn in the abandoned borough in 2011, 49 years later (emphasis mine).
It's really getting tiring debunking everything that clowns like Arnie Gundersen say about Fukushima. It doesn't matter how many facts or data that I link to or how much I try to fact check what this guy says, people still write really stupid (and childishly rude) stuff to me and challenge me on it.
Of course, I can tell the rude stuff comes from ill-educated hysterical Americans. It's pretty obvious.
What's even more tiring is getting mail from fools who actually believe that things are out of control. It really reminds me of the early days of the Global Warming idiocy. People were foaming at the mouth believing that too because they believed the crap they were told. What was their rationale?
1) It was a government cover up and conspiracy 2) "They" were lying to us
Why do people think this way?
3) Most people are illogical and cannot have an original thought if it were the last thing they ever did
It's a victory for the public education system that it churns out so many people with such a poor level of education.
I don't really mind being challenged on what's written here, but let's stick to the points, if we can, shall we? The lunatic fringe writing stuff to me like what I received yesterday was so totally out of whack that I deleted his comments. (Note: I do enjoy every one's comments and appreciate that they take the time to write them, but please do read the rules on commenting before you write. It is foolish to take ten minutes writing something that gets immediately deleted when you could read the rules in two seconds and make sure that doesn't happen).
Some of these guys actually write comments like this:
"Mike, you are full of sh*t... Care to debate me?"
Hmm.... What an intelligent, polite and marvelous argument this guy puts forth. What a fantastic invitation to debate the points. I can tell, by the quality of his writing, it would be like debating Neanderthal man. I don't know how I can counter such an excellently structured argument...
Perhaps by hitting the table with a crude wooden bat and saying, "Korg no like!"...
Could he possibly mean that he wants to, "debate me on the point of the contents of my body?" If so, no. I do not... If he means that - judging by the excellent logic of his argument shown in his comment - should I debate him on the same level of childish insults as he does by, say, calling his mother various unsavory names? Then, no to that one too.
I'm sure that his mother is a wonderful woman. Most moms are like that.
So, without further ado, here's another article debunking Gundersen. I hope it will be the last, but, alas, suspect it won't. First up, let's be fair. I will show you both anti-atomic power (Gundersen's comments) and "pro"-nuclear power comments. You be the judge.
Arnie Gundersen has been making money by spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt about nuclear energy for more than a decade. His career has received a measurable boost since March 11, when a large earthquake and powerful tsunami successfully peeled off most of the many layers of protection at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station.
Ever since that day, Gundersen has been giving scary interviews in a variety of media outlets that include a number of dire predictions. He claimed that the spent fuel pool for unit 4 had gone dry and that he had the video to prove it. That claim remains available on his web site, so he is apparently standing by his early evaluation despite all evidence that contradicts his claim.
(snip)
He has been making the rounds of the advertiser supported media recently with stories about the dangers of “hot particles” that are so tinythey cannot be picked up by normal radiation detectors. (Note: Radiation can be measured at extremely low levels, far below the levels that can cause human health effects. There is a reason why doctors inject small amounts radioactive materials into their patients as tracers to assist them in diagnosing organ function – those tracers make bodily systems visible without endangering the patient. If the hot particles are so tiny and dispersed that they cannot be detected, they are nothing to worry about.)
Of course, I also blasted Gundersen for these same ridiculous remarks on the very blog in "Wind Patterns and Rainy Season in Japan" where I derailed his ignorant and completely false claims that "the wind was turning and now blowing radiation towards Tokyo." I also dismantled his absurd claims of "anecdotal evidence" of people having a metallic taste in their mouths was proof of Iodine in the air as a byproduct of radiation in "Metallic Tastes in Mouths Proves Nuclear Disaster! Or Does it?"
Finally, and as an aside, one other reader complained that I bashed Gundersen for his foolish claims of radioactive air filters in cars. The reader claimed that he searched for third-party evidence of this claim by Gundersen and could find nothing. This reader then somehow concluded that this fact was proof that I was making up evidence against Gundersen and trying to discredit him (well, that's what he said. Yeah, I know. The logic is quite convuluted...) But I don't want to keep railing on the educational system of the USA. In that post about car air filters I even showed the results of a search in Japanese for what Gundersen was claiming and found nothing excepting links to his absurd claims. See it here in "Radioactive Air Filters in Cars?"
"So ten to 15 years from now maybe we can say the reactors have been dismantled, and in the meantime you wind up contaminating the water," Gundersen said.
Is this true? You be the judge. Here's today's news from the Nuclear Energy Institute:
TEPCO is making headway in reducing the volume of contaminated water on site. In the last week, the new water filtration system has treated more than 13,000 tons of water. Recycling the treated water into the plant cooling systems also began last week, and the rate of water accumulation is now being reversed. The company says water levels in the basements of the reactor buildings could drop by more than three feet by next month. About 120,000 tons of water have accumulated in basements at the facility and in storage facilities.
This seems to quite directly contradict Gundersen's claims, no?
The article continues:
Also, the company has installed steel plates at the seawater intake structures for Fukushima reactors 1 through 4, closing off a path for leakage of contaminated water from the reactors to the ocean.
So, judging from the news these last two days, here are the facts and the timetable settled so far:
2) The contaminated water is being cleaned and contaminated water levels are dropping.
3) Radioactive water leaks have been stopped.
Of course this disaster at Fukushima is bad. But considering the claims of just a few shorts months, even weeks ago, when Gundersen was claiming:
"Fukushima is the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind. Fukushima has three nuclear reactors exposed and four fuel cores exposed. You probably have the equivalent of 20 nuclear reactor cores because of the fuel cores, and they are all in desperate need of being cooled, and there is no means to cool them effectively."
Gundersen likes to use words like "maybe" (see above) and words like "probably." That means that he is just guessing. Also, don't look now, but the reactors were being cooled months ago.
As far as being the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind, I'm sure that is debatable. I'm sure people near the BP oil disaster that has already killed at least eleven men and sickened hundreds, if not thousands, of people; as well as killing wildlife in the hundreds of millions if not more, would strongly disagree with you Gundersen.
So far the death tally from Fukushima nearly four months later: Zero.
These are facts indelibly etched into history...Care to debate me?
If you want to drink and/or smoke freely, even in public, Japan is heaven. If you want to stop drinking or smoking, Japan is not the best place to be. This is a very free country. I can walk down any street and drink booze in public. Smoking is not prohibited in privately owned buildings. That's the way it's supposed to be. I didn't smoke last night. I quit smoking more than 2 years ago. But I sure drank a lot!
Last night I went to the Who the Bitch concert in Shibuya, and drank way too much. It was great.
I was dreaming of staying in bed all day... Or at least sleeping late... Alas, I cannot. For one, I still feel a bit drunk. For two, I have to work. For three, I must write his blog.
By the way, the Who the Bitch show was classic! I haven't seen a band that good in a long time. This band is destined for great things. I'm destined for, at least, a full day of hangover.
WHO THE BITCH - SUPERSTAR
For most people, having a hangover is a bad experience but I've learned that that kind of thinking is the wrong way to look at a hangover. If you think, "Oh, I feel terrible. I have a hangover. I drank too much last night." Then you will spend the day feeling poorly. Feeling poorly is not fun.
Get rid of that negative thinking. Here's the best way to deal with a hellacious hangover that was taught to me by Ray Hearn who owns a music label and concert promotion company here in Tokyo called Beat Ink; Ray says that you shouldn't think, "I feel terrible. My head hurts and I have a hangover!" You should think that your hangover is a sort of a trophy. You should say, "Wow! What a wild night I had last night! I drank way too much. What fun! What decadence!" If you do and say this, then your friends will envy you rather than feel sorry for you.
The hangover is a trophy and that trophy is proof positive of a wild and fun night out last night. So wear your hangover trophy proudly!
Stay positive like that. Don't feel sorry for yourself and remember that the hangover is merely a question of time; it is going away very soon. The memory of a great and fun night will always be with you.
The "trophy" that is your hangover is going to fade away. Enjoy it while you can.
The foaming at the mouth panic and fear mongering about Fukushima is dying down. The peanut gallery is taking their toys and heading home. The reason why you don't hear much about Fukushima is not because there is a coverup, it's because things are predictable and getting under control.
Now, the worst thing that is going to happen is how people from that area will most likely be discriminated against. I received a few excellent comments from some long time Japan expert friends who are quite knowledgable about Japan, her history and society. I'd like to share their wisdom with you.
The first is from my friend Graham Carpenter who writes:
The big and real damage to Fukushima from this nuclear accident is how Fukushima will now be known as the radioactive prefecture, and its citizens will be discriminated around the country as if they are mutants. Sort of like how Hiroshima and Nagasaki victims were initially treated. And, of course, this is further accelerated with all the doomsday reports and predictions.
Speaking with children in Fukushima recently. Their fear of being "labelled" like lepers if they come to Tokyo is very real. The Mayor of Tsukuba a few months ago fed the ignorance. But me thinks that the past Hiroshima/Nagasaki mentality of stigma will smear Fukushima for some time ... due to an archaic education system and small, uniformed minds - both the products of an infantile media system and self-serving politicians.
THE FORTUNES - YOU'VE GOT YOUR TROUBLES, I'VE GOT MINE
So thanks to all those morons who were scaremongering and claiming doom. As if these people in Fukushima and Tohoku don't have enough problems of their own without having you clowns (who live hundreds, if not thousands of kilometers away) scaring people by writing and talking about BS.
The good news is these jerks are starting to fade away. Thank god for that.
Also, my hate mail is also decreasing.
The last mail I got (along the lines of claiming that I was a paid agent for the nuclear industry) was from a guy who was several weeks late to a party where I was blasting a guy named Arnie Gundersen for scare mongering and stating ridiculous things about Fukushima and the nuclear accident problem in Japan. The last article that I had written bashing Gundersen, entitled,"Radioactive Air Filters in Cars?" was written on June 16th, 2011 about Arnie's nonsense claims of car air filters in Tokyo being found with dangerous levels of "Hot Spot" radiation that will surely kill us all but couldn't be detected with a Geiger counter. That post was penned in mid-June....
The anonymous reader finally got around to reading that story (at least three weeks late) and wrote to me yesterday on July 6, 2011. His letter is funny in a conspiratorial sort of way. I laughed. I hope you get a chuckle out of it too. The guy jumps right into it when he comments:
"At this point, calling Gundersen names puts you in good company...every other nuclear official/scientist (all bought off by the industry) that said nuclear containment issues were a zero percent probability."
Ha! Ha! laughable. "Every other nuclear official/scientist"!? Oh really? EVERY!? All of them? This guy sounds just like Gundersen. They're both just like the child who begs mom for a new toy "because everyone has one!" They are also like the rest of these people (like Global warming alarmists, Swine Flu, Bird Flu, etc.) who always say the end of the world is upon us. They make these wild claims and yet fail to back them up with names or links (remember when "they" said that "2,500 of the word's top scientist agree about man-made Global Warming"? Ha!).
OK, anonymous reader, name one of these "Every other nuclear official/scientist" (who aren't in the pocket of the nuclear industry) please. It's heartening to know that Gundersen stands like the rock of Gibraltar, alone, against the elements of evil.
Guffaw!
Then, on top of that, he goes and make the even more idiotic claim that these unnamed nuclear official/scientist(s) were "bought off by the industry"? Oh, please.... Got any receipts?
This argument is pure fiction out of Alice in Wonderland.
Once again, if a writer can't name names or show links to back up claims, then it's all bullsh*t just like the "anecdotal" crap Gundersen says. Then the writer continues trying to be "cute" or "intelligent" of which he is not either...
"Oooppsy-Doopsy! Granted, a metallic taste in the mouth is NOT scientific."
"Oooppsy- Doopsy!" indeed. I think someone watches way too much American TV sitcoms. People in the real world don't talk this way. They only do on the I Love Lucy Show or Mary Tyler Moore or whatever dribble people watch these days.
"...but if all things remained consistent, and I tasted something "metallic", and I lived in Seattle during the disaster, I'd be at least mildly concerned."
You would be concerned if you "lived in Seattle during the disaster"? Oh man, I know Americans are bad at geography, but this is ridiculous. It's almost 5,000 miles from Tokyo to Seattle! You would be worried about that!? You have a 5,000 times higher chance of dying from coal or oil industry emissions and you don't worry about those, but you'd be worried if you had a metallic taste in your mouth if you lived 5,000 miles away? Seriously, you should never drink the tap water anyway either. The crap in the tap water will probably kill you much sooner than something going on 5,000 miles away.
Dude. You need help. Really.
"Especially given the government's consistent under reporting of the actual radiation releases."
Once again, proof, please. Links?
"Bad mouth him all you want, I suspect you were bad mouthing him BEFORE the accident too."
Wrong! Never heard of the guy before.
"I guess it becomes an issue of credibility at that point, and the my money is on Gundersen." (sic)
Your money is on Gundersen? Well, you lost. Gundersen, like Michio Kaku (excepting his Saturday night Sci-Fi TV show), is no where to be seen recently. They've lost all credibility and have quietly gone back to hiding under their rocks.
Instead of betting on Micho Kaku or Arnie Gundersen, I'd say it's a better bet to put your money on Uncle Fester from the Addams Family.... At least he is funny.
Uncle Fester gets a charge
But enough of my complaining. Here's what's going on at Fukushima that you need to know.... Actually a lot is going on, but it is not sensational, so you won't hear about it....
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has started injecting decontaminated wastewater as a coolant. This is considered an important step to stabilize the damaged reactors. Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, says it began recycling the water around the reactors on Monday afternoon. The utility has been operating a water treatment system since June 14th and processed about 1,850 tons of radioactive water that had been accumulated at the plant. TEPCO says it will continue injecting 16 tons of water per hour into the No.1, 2 and 3 reactors. 13 tons of this will be the decontaminated water. Workers had been pouring pure water to cool the damaged reactors, but some of this ended up contaminated with radioactive substances and was leaking outside of the reactors. Cooling the reactors without increasing the volume of wastewater is the biggest challenge. With the water circulation in operation, TEPCO has made progress toward achieving its target of stabilizing the reactors by mid-July.
Get that? Even though guys like Gundersen and many others claimed that it would take decades to get Fukushima under control or that we needed to bomb the reactors from the air with concrete and cover them up, they are on schedule to be stabilized with 10 days of this post.
Work is continuing to reduce radiation levels at Fukushima Daiichi’s reactor 3 building. Tokyo Electric Power Co. has used robots to vacuum radioactive debris and place steel sheets on the floor to decrease the potential for radiation exposure. Pending a reduction in radiation levels, workers are scheduled to enter the building housing the reactor on July 17 to begin installing new piping to inject nitrogen gas into the reactor containment vessel. The inert gas will reduce the possibility of a hydrogen explosion in the containment building. The company already is injecting nitrogen into the containments for reactors 1 and 2.
Catch that? "Workers are scheduled to enter the building housing the reactor on July 17th." There is a second article on the same page that talks about how Japan has cleared up the contaminated water issue.
TEPCO said debris may have clogged a hose, temporarily reducing the flow of cooling water into reactor 1 at Fukushima Daiichi by about one-quarter of normal volume. Normally, the cooling system injects 3.7 metric tons of water an hour into the reactors, but the flow was reduced Monday to about 3 metric tons per hour, setting off an alarm. Workers began injecting more water, restoring normal flow in less than an hour.
The last part of this non-news is "Workers began injecting more water, restoring normal flow in less than an hour." That's "normal" as in "nothing special," "OK," "regular," "not newsworthy." That's why recent news shows things like the Yahoo News top stories for this very moment:
Let me close up on the top news stories that I highlighted in blue for you:
"Court orders immediate halt to gay military service ban"? CNN cancels some TV show? Grizzly bear kills man? Jail prepares secret exit? Wow! That's some news! From reading in between the lines and knowing about the government cover up, one can definitely conclude from these news stories that the world is ending soon and Fukushima is at the cause. (HEAVY SARCASM AGAIN!)
Of course, they will also conveniently claim that they knew it all along and try to change the subject whenever the BS they said or wrote about Fukushima comes up.
There is a Chinese curse that goes like this: "May you live in interesting times." This year has been very interesting so far.
I hope it doesn't become more interesting... I don't expect that it will.
