Why the Fukushima disaster is worse than Chernobyl

this is a very well written article.

Why the Fukushima disaster is worse than Chernobyl

Japan has been slow to admit the scale of the meltdown. But now the truth is coming out. David McNeill reports from Soma City

Monday, 29 August 2011
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Some scientists say Fukushima is worse than the 1986 Chernobyl accident, with which it shares a maximum level-7 rating on the sliding scale of nuclear disasters.
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Yoshio Ichida is recalling the worst day of his 53 years: 11 March, when the sea swallowed up his home and killed his friends. The Fukushima fisherman was in the bath when the huge quake hit and barely made it to the open sea in his boat in the 40 minutes before the 15-metre tsunami that followed. When he got back to port, his neighbourhood and nearly everything else was gone. "Nobody can remember anything like this," he says.

Now living in a refugee centre in the ruined coastal city of Soma, Mr Ichida has mourned the 100 local fishermen killed in the disaster and is trying to rebuild his life with his colleagues. Every morning, they arrive at the ruined fisheries co-operative building in Soma port and prepare for work. Then they stare out at the irradiated sea, and wait. "Some day we know we'll be allowed to fish again. We all want to believe that."

This nation has recovered from worse natural – and manmade – catastrophes. But it is the triple meltdown and its aftermath at the Fukushima nuclear power plant 40km down the coast from Soma that has elevated Japan into unknown, and unknowable, terrain. Across the northeast, millions of people are living with its consequences and searching for a consensus on a safe radiation level that does not exist. Experts give bewilderingly different assessments of its dangers.
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Some scientists say Fukushima is worse than the 1986 Chernobyl accident, with which it shares a maximum level-7 rating on the sliding scale of nuclear disasters. One of the most prominent of them is Dr Helen Caldicott, an Australian physician and long time anti-nuclear activist who warns of "horrors to come" in Fukushima.

Chris Busby, a professor at the University of Ulster known for his alarmist views, generated controversy during a Japan visit last month when he said the disaster would result in more than 1 million deaths. "Fukushima is still boiling its radionuclides all over Japan," he said. "Chernobyl went up in one go. So Fukushima is worse."

On the other side of the nuclear fence are the industry friendly scientists who insist that the crisis is under control and radiation levels are mostly safe. "I believe the government and Tokyo Electric Power [Tepco, the plant's operator] are doing their best," said Naoto Sekimura, vice-dean of the Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo. Mr Sekimura initially advised residents near the plant that a radioactive disaster was "unlikely" and that they should stay "calm", an assessment he has since had to reverse.

Slowly, steadily, and often well behind the curve, the government has worsened its prognosis of the disaster. Last Friday, scientists affiliated with the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said the plant had released 15,000 terabecquerels of cancer-causing Cesium, equivalent to about 168 times the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the event that ushered in the nuclear age. (Professor Busby says the release is at least 72,000 times worse than Hiroshima).

Caught in a blizzard of often conflicting information, many Japanese instinctively grope for the beacons they know. Mr Ichida and his colleagues say they no longer trust the nuclear industry or the officials who assured them the Fukushima plant was safe. But they have faith in government radiation testing and believe they will soon be allowed back to sea.

That's a mistake, say sceptics, who note a consistent pattern of official lying, foot-dragging and concealment. Last week, officials finally admitted something long argued by its critics: that thousands of people with homes near the crippled nuclear plant may not be able to return for a generation or more. "We can't rule out the possibility that there will be some areas where it will be hard for residents to return to their homes for a long time," said Yukio Edano, the government's top government spokesman. "We are very sorry."

Last Friday, hundreds of former residents from Futaba and Okuma, the towns nearest the plant, were allowed to visit their homes – perhaps for the last time – to pick up belongings. Wearing masks and radiation suits, they drove through the 20km contaminated zone around the plant, where hundreds of animals have died and rotted in the sun, to find kitchens and living rooms partly reclaimed by nature. "It's hard to believe we ever lived here," one former resident told NHK.

Several other areas northwest of the plant have become atomic ghost towns after being ordered to evacuate – too late, say many residents, who believe they absorbed dangerous quantities of radiation in the weeks after the accident. "We've no idea when we can come back," says Katsuzo Shoji, who farmed rice and cabbages and kept a small herd of cattle near Iitate, a picturesque village about 40km from the plant.

Although it is outside the exclusion zone, the village's mountainous topography meant radiation, carried by wind and rain, lingered, poisoning crops, water and school playgrounds.

The young, the wealthy, mothers and pregnant women left for Tokyo or elsewhere. Most of the remaining 6000 people have since evacuated, after the government accepted that safe radiation limits had been exceeded.

Mr Shoji, 75, went from shock to rage, then despair when the government told him he would have to destroy his vegetables, kill his six cows and move with his wife Fumi, 73, to an apartment in Koriyama, about 20km away. "We've heard five, maybe 10 years but some say that's far too optimistic," he says, crying. "Maybe I'll be able to come home to die." He was given initial compensation of one million yen (£7,900 / $ 12,860.96 ) by Tepco, topped up with 350,000 yen from the government.

It is the fate of people outside the evacuation zones, however, that causes the most bitter controversy. Parents in Fukushima City, 63km from the plant, have banded together to demand that the government do more to protect about 100,000 children. Schools have banned soccer and other outdoor sports. Windows are kept closed. "We've just been left to fend for ourselves," says Machiko Sato, a grandmother who lives in the city. "It makes me so angry."

Many parents have already sent their children to live with relatives or friends hundreds of kilometres away. Some want the government to evacuate the entire two million population of Fukushima Prefecture. "They're demanding the right to be able to evacuate," says anti-nuclear activist Aileen Mioko Smith, who works with the parents. "In other words, if they evacuate they want the government to support them."

So far, at least, the authorities say that is not necessary. The official line is that the accident at the plant is winding down and radiation levels outside of the exclusion zone and designated "hot spots" are safe.

But many experts warn that the crisis is just beginning. Professor Tim Mousseau, a biological scientist who has spent more than a decade researching the genetic impact of radiation around Chernobyl, says he worries that many people in Fukushima are "burying their heads in the sand." His Chernobyl research concluded that biodiversity and the numbers of insects and spiders had shrunk inside the irradiated zone, and the bird population showed evidence of genetic defects, including smaller brain sizes.

"The truth is that we don't have sufficient data to provide accurate information on the long-term impact," he says. "What we can say, though, is that there are very likely to be very significant long-term health impact from prolonged exposure."

In Soma, Mr Ichida says all the talk about radiation is confusing. "All we want to do is get back to work. There are many different ways to die, and having nothing to do is one of them."

Economic cost
Fukushima: Japan has estimated it will cost as much as £188 / $ 306.06 bn to rebuild following the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.
Chernobyl There are a number of estimates of the economic impact, but thetotal cost is thought to be about £144 / $ 234.43 bn.

Safety
Fukushima: workers are allowed to operate in the crippled plant up to a dose of 250mSv (millisieverts).
Chernobyl: People exposed to 350mSv were relocated. In most countries the maximum annual dosage for a worker is 20mSv. The allowed dose for someone living close to a nuclear plant is 1mSv a year.

Death toll
Fukushima: Two workers died inside the plant. Some scientists predict that one million lives will be lost to cancer.
Chernobyl: It is difficult to say how many people died on the day of the disaster because of state security, but Greenpeace estimates that 200,000 have died from radiation-linked cancers in the 25 years since the accident.

Exclusion zone
Fukushima: Tokyo initially ordered a 20km radius exclusion zone around the plant
Chernobyl: The initial radius of the Chernobyl zone was set at 30km – 25 years later it is still largely in place.

Compensation
Fukushima: Tepco's share price has collapsed since the disaster largely because of the amount it will need to pay out, about £10,000 / $ 16,279.70 a person
Chernobyl: Not a lot. It has been reported that Armenian victims of the disaster were offered about £6 / $ 9.77 each in 1986

Aid
Fukushima: The UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported bilateral aid worth $95m
Chernobyl: 12 years after the disaster, the then Ukrainian president, Leonid Kuchma, complained that his country was still waiting for international help.

The difference between terrorists

The difference between terrorists:

Are women really smarter?

     A Woman was out golfing one day when she hit the ball into the woods.      She went into the woods to look for it and found a frog in a trap. The frog said to her, "If you release me from this trap, I will grant you three wishes." The woman freed the frog, and the frog said, "Thank you, but I failed to mention that there was a condition to your wishes. Whatever you wish for, your husband will get times ten!"     The woman said, "That's okay."     For her first wish, she wanted to be the most beautiful woman in the world. The frog warned her, "You do realize that this wish will also make your husband the most handsome man in the world, an Adonis whom women will flock to". The woman replied, "That's okay, because I will be the most beautiful woman and he will have eyes only for me."     So, KAZAM-she's the most beautiful woman in the world!     For her second wish, she wanted to be the richest woman in the world. The frog said, "That will make your husband the richest man in the world. And he will be ten times richer than you." The woman said, "That's okay, because what's mine is his and what's his is mine."      So, KAZAM-she's the richest woman in the world!     The frog then inquired about her third wish, and she answered, "I'd like a mild heart attack."     Moral of the story: Women are clever. Don't mess with them.

Attention female readers: This is the end of the joke for you. Stop here and continue feeling good.

Male readers: Please scroll down.
 

     The man had a heart attack ten times milder than his wife .     Moral of the story: Women are not really smart, they just think they are.
Let them continue to think that way and just enjoy the show.

Michael Shermer on strange beliefs | Video on TED.com

It's all in the mind.

Michael Shermer on strange beliefs | Video on TED.com

Magic!

size of cities metabolic theory of ecology

 

asahi.com（朝日新聞社）：Couple over TEPCO dorms told reality at nuke plant

A couple who has supervised various dorms in Fukushima Prefecture for Tokyo Electric Power Co. over about two decades considered their residents like their own children. 

So, they are at a loss for words when some who continue to work at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant say things like they will never marry because of cancer fears due to the leaked radiation from the plant.

On March 11, the couple was working as supervisors of a dorm for single TEPCO employees located about five kilometers from the Fukushima plant when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck.

The couple has now evacuated to a public housing unit in Ehime Prefecture about 800 kilometers away. Despite the distance, dorm residents still call the couple and tell them what is on their minds.

One dorm resident who called said, "I have now worked to the limits (of radiation exposure)."

Another said, "While we have to do everything we can to stop (the nuclear accident), in a sense we are all guinea pigs."

The 62-year-old wife occasionally does not know what to say to the dorm residents.

She said, "I only want to think that the time will come when all the trouble they have gone through will someday work to their advantage."

There was one time when she was at a complete loss for words.

A dorm resident said, "Since I have no idea when I will develop cancer, I probably can never get married even if I go to a place that matches couples."

The only thing she can think of to say on those occasions is, "Everyone knows how much you are trying your best."

With tears welling up in their eyes, the couple said they felt sorry for such young workers who have their entire lives ahead of them.

As employees of a company affiliated with TEPCO, the couple worked as supervisors at various dorms near the Fukushima plant. Their duties included handling administrative matters and taking out the garbage. They would also listen to the problems experienced by dorm residents and held year-end parties for them.

"They were all like our children," the couple said.

When the March 11 quake hit, the stairway in the dorm for single employees was damaged.

One dorm resident said, "It would have been better if I remained at the nuclear plant."

The husband said, "We also felt the reactor building was safer based on the explanations given by the company and government officials."

Although the public address announcements for disaster management called on local residents to evacuate to a junior high school, the couple had no idea of the extent of damage because their TV was not working. They remained at the dorm in case any residents returned.

However, at about 7 p.m. on March 11, the P.A. announcement said, "To be on the safe side, please close all the windows."

That is when they first thought that radiation may have leaked from the plant.

The following day, the P.A. announcement called on local residents to evacuate to the west.

One dorm resident who returned from the plant told them, "You should leave. The radiation level at the front gate (of the Fukushima No. 1 plant) has increased considerably."

The couple finally fled by car to an evacuation center about 30 kilometers away. That night, while watching TV they learned that a hydrogen explosion had occurred at a reactor building while they were fleeing.

Rather than become frightened, what the couple thought of first was the faces of the dorm residents.

They were reunited at the evacuation center with a woman TEPCO employee, who burst into tears when she saw the couple. She told them a senior at work, who worked at the Fukushima plant, had been swept away by the tsunami. The employee went to the turbine building to check on damage when the tsunami hit. The woman extended her hand and shouted, "Get up here now." However, the senior employee did not make it.

While wiping away tears, the wife said, "The workers at the plant are really trying to do their best. The one who told us to flee was working on March 11, but grabbed his things and returned to the plant because he said, 'My replacement cannot make it to work.' "

The wife added, "I do not believe the dorm residents were guilty of the same things as those high-ranking elite officials who should have engaged the gigantic technology they faced with considerable insight."

The couple gets by on assistance money from the prefectural government and by dipping into their savings they had set aside for retirement.

They have no idea how long their life as evacuees will continue.

But, they do not want central government officials to simply say, "The time will come when you can go home."

There are some areas around the Chernobyl accident site that are still off-limits even 25 years after the nuclear accident there in 1986.

"They should stop saying superficial things in order for evacuees to think more positively about the future as well as to allow plant workers to do their jobs with pride," the wife said.

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