τι ασφαλής και καθαρή ενέργεια

Alexander Cockburn
Earthquakes, Waves and Nuke-Speak

The explosion at a Japanese nuclear plant in the early hours of Saturday looks, on the footage, huge and calamitous. An “expert”, interviewed on the BBC, tactfully described it as “energetic”. Here are excerpts from the Associated Press story from Japan, on the wires at about 2. am Saturday, PST. Rarely has my father Claud’s admonition “never to believe anything till it’s officially denied been given such powerful buttress. Comforting phrases and words in italic.

‘WAKI, Japan (AP) -- An explosion at a nuclear power station Saturday destroyed a building housing the reactor amid fears that it was close to a disastrous meltdown... A nuclear expert said a meltdown may not pose widespread danger….

‘"We are now trying to analyze what is behind the explosion," said government spokesman Yukio Edano, stressing that people should quickly evacuate a six-mile (10-kilometer) radius. "We ask everyone to take action to secure safety."

‘…A "meltdown" is not a technical term. Rather, it is an informal way of referring to a very serious collapse of a power plant's systems and its ability to manage temperatures. It is not immediately clear if a meltdown would cause serious radiation risk, and if it did how far the risk would extend.

‘Yaroslov Shtrombakh, a Russian nuclear expert, said a Chernobyl-style meltdown was unlikely.

‘"It's not a fast reaction like at Chernobyl," he said. "I think that everything will be contained within the grounds, and there will be no big catastrophe."

‘The reactor in trouble has already leaked some radiation: Operators have detected eight times the normal radiation levels outside the facility and 1,000 times normal inside Unit 1's control room.

‘Ryohei Shiomi, a nuclear official, said that each hour the plant was releasing the amount of radiation a person normal absorbs in a year.

‘He has said that even if there were a meltdown, it wouldn't affect people outside a six-mile (10-kilometer) radius - Most of the 51,000 residents living within the danger area had been evacuated, he said.’

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