No Reactor is Safe

Worse Than Chernobyl?

By RUSSELL D. HOFFMAN

The latest news is that the Japanese military are dropping sea water on the reactors by helicopter.

That sounds very inefficient, very ineffective, and very dangerous.

I described this event to a loved one today as one of the worst catastrophes in the history of humanity. What will she tell her 13-year-old while he watches the news tonight? That Ace is STILL saying the worst may be yet to come? That we might have one spent fuel pool fire after another... and dry cask fires, too... and more reactor meltdowns, and more explosions?

That over the next 20 years there will probably be more than a million dead in Japan from this accident, and thousands dead here in America?

Do we tell them that? These are pretty hard things to have to try to explain to a child.

Do we tell them the poisons are particularly bad for youngsters, infants, and fetuses?

"If you don't understand what's happening, you're probably so young that you REALLY need to know!! It will affect YOUR life most of all!"

There's no way to explain that.

Of course, you can always listen to the pro-nukers tell you not to worry because it can't happen "here", wherever "here" is for you. They will tell you the radiation levels from the Fukushima-Daiichi catastrophe will be little more than background levels by the time they get to you, wherever you are. They'll say background radiation is harmless and might even be good for you. They'll say it's just a dusting. That's it's all going to land in China. That the deaths from Chernobyl didn't happen.

They'll say it all.

Radiation sickness isn't pretty. People in Japan will be coming down with it in droves. Workers undoubtedly already are being visited behind plastic screens for the last time by their loved ones who, if they live close to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, were also irradiated, but not as badly.

I spoke at a hearing last night, near my local nuclear power plant. It was a common council hearing in San Clemente, the city nearest the reactor. I've posted a You-Tube video from the event.

The public speaking portion of the evening started with this author. The reactor company was allowed to speak last, for as long as they wanted. The representative explained that the reactor was built to withstand all foreseeable earthquakes in the area, and all tsunamis that they could foresee as well. And that was that. No talk of new studies, no talk of building the wall higher, nothing like that. Everything's fine at San Onofre, according to them.

Lately at all the hearings for San Onofre, the activists have been overwhelmed by plant employees, some of whom always speak, such as the union duckie, and some of whom just clap for their team and leave when its the activists' turn to talk.

There were NO employees making themselves obvious at this hearing, besides the one management representative. I did not see a single logoed shirt, patch, or San-Onofre beeper this time.

An emergency services person told us that KI is not indicated for people here in the United States. That was yesterday. Today the government admits that we will be getting some amount of radiation from this accident. However, KI consumption for the general public is still not indicated.

I asked several people to help me suggest what to do to prepare. You should not take KI unless authorities are recommending it (or you own a Geiger Counter and know it is properly calibrated, and have been checking it regularly, and are willing to go with that decision on your own...). KI has side effects, such as allergic reactions and so forth.

Dr. Carolyn Dean, a medical doctor, and also a naturopath, herbalist, acupuncturist, nutritionist, lecturer, consultant, author and friend, sent the following suggestion, after I sent her Dr. Brownstein's suggestions: "I'm using some Iodorol anyway. It's a KI. I take 25 mg every day anyway and bumped to 50mg."

Dr. Dean also suggested investigating something called RnA drops. Their claims seem to both of us to be a bit extreme and confusing, but perhaps they're harmless, if nothing else!

Dr. Dean also posted a newsletter at her web site, with additionalsuggestions.

It is clear now that this is worse than Chernobyl. The Japanese have been calling for U. S. military help at Fukushima Dai-ichi. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says help should have been asked for sooner: They say the Japanese made mistakes that it's now too late to fix.

I think somebody wants to cover their posterior for a later investigation! Accidents like this can't happen here, the NRC will tell Congress soon. Our reactor operators would have called us in sooner! We would have known what to do! Sure.

Nuclear power will do this to us again and again, unless there is a global effort to close the plants. The local communities are profiting too much from the local reactor, it funds their schools and police and other local services. Everywhere jobs are hard to find and work is scarce. So nobody wants to close a reactor and put people out of work.

But look at the alternatives. No reactor is safe.

Russell D. Hoffman lives in Carlsbad, California. He is an educational software developer and bladder cancer survivor, as well as a collector of military and nuclear historical documents and books. He is the author and programmer of the award-winning Animated Periodic Table of the Elements. He can be reached at: rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com

Notes.Animation of actual Chernobyl winds centered instead at Fukushima Dai-ichi:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tPT6VWZ9mkNYTimes animation of projected plume across the Pacific:http://www.nytimescom/interactive/2011/03/16/science/plume-graphic.html?ref=scienceSomebody sent me the following suggestions for an "anti-radiation" diet. It sounds like a healthy diet in any case! It's aimed at Depleted Uranium detoxification, but that should not matter -- your body can't tell the difference between "depleted" (toxic, radioactive) uranium and any other (toxic, radioactive) kind. Unfortunately, even if this diet works to help remove heavy metals, it won't do any good for the fission products that are also being released. (The site is having bandwidth problems, not surprisingly...)From:http://www.radiationdetox.com/depleted-uranium-detox.htm----------------------------------------------------Miso soupSpirulina, chlorella and the algaes (kelp, etc.)Brassica vegetables and high beta carotene vegetablesBeans and lentilsPotassium, calcium and mineral rich foods High nucleotide content foods to assist in cellular repair including spirulina, chlorella, algae, yeast, sardines, liver, anchovies and mackerelCod liver oil and olive oilAvoid sugars and sweets and wheatA good multivitamin/multimineral supplement