Something of a Call to Action
(I posted this in another Topic on the Forum a little while ago, but I thought it might bear repeating -- and a little more specific "titling". Apologies for any annoyance, but I have something to say, and I believe it just MAY be important.)
I have to say, I think the person who posted about "apples and oranges" has a point. I understand the Berkeley Lab staff's desire to provide approximations for the sake of real-world, easily comprehensible comparisons, and I desire wholeheartedly that they continue to do so. However, isn't there a MASSIVE difference between "exposure" (that the OUTSIDE of the human body is subjected to, with all its thick dermal layers and defenses), and respiration / ingestion? That "relative dosage" from a chest X-ray might have VERY different effects on a human (or other) body when it's doing its nasty work of decay FROM THE INSIDE, where it has DIRECT INFLUENCE on the fragile cells of the lungs, GI tract, muscles, and blood...
I also want to make an observation. Right now there are several different strata of people (in the U.S., anyway):
- Those who have zero, or next to zero, "general" knowledge of this ongoing event (many even think it's "already over and done with")
- Those who have some knowledge, through conventional media sources like top-of-the-hour news bulletins, local news and national newscasts, who realize it's still ongoing but have become convinced that it's of very little interest or importance, for now anyway
- Those who have "kept up" with the ongoing crisis on the Internet, and are at least nominally aware that the situation is NOT "over" and that there are ongoing concerns, but primarily to Japan ONLY
- Those who have done some "independent research" and are monitoring events overseas with something approaching concern
- Those who access sites like this, and are beginning to become panicked by what they're reading -- and what it may mean for ALL OF US.
It's the LACK OF INFORMATION that's maddening. Everyone -- TEPCO, the oversight authorities in Japan, the Japanese government, and the U.S. Government included -- seems to be whistling past the graveyard and pretending that this ISN'T an immediate and grave danger to the entire global population. People in positions of power are playing at three monkeys: See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, and there's a DEAFENING SILENCE from the REAL experts. Case in point: I've seen a dozen different nuclear scientists, many representing one or another corporate or industry interest, flapping their mouths about how "insignificant" expected "exposures" are for the general U.S. population. But I have yet to see ONE actual NUCLEAR MEDICINE expert who has been willing to exposit on the difference between EXTERNAL EXPOSURE and RESPIRATED OR INGESTED DOSES of quantities of iodine, cesium, etc. What gives? I don't normally give much credence to conspiracy theories, but at THIS point at least, I'd expect SOMEONE -- from the Union of Concerned Scientists, or Greenpeace, or, heck, the Sierra Club -- grabbing the microphone and speaking their mind. But... NOTHING. NO ONE is talking. And it's beginning, to me at least, to seem a little like Gene Krantz during "Apollo 13": When it was suspected that the re-entry capsule was underweight, and "shallowing" its angle of atmospheric interface, and might skip off the sky and head out into unrecoverable space, Krantz asked: "Is there anything we can do about it?" and received the answer, "Not now..." To which he responded:
"...THEN THEY [the Apollo flight crew] DON'T NEED TO KNOW, DO THEY?"
Is THAT what this is? We can't run from it, we can't hide; every single soul on earth is going to just have to take what's coming? 'Cause, while that might prevent panic in the short term, folks with knowledge and / or power and influence need to understand something: It is becoming evident that we -- the global population, I mean, is either being "handled" (especially by the so-called responsible parties in Japan, who are so inconsistent, mercurial, detached and daffy that they make the Keystone Kops look positively professional), or is being GROSSLY MIS-SERVED by The Powers That Be, from Fukushima to Tokyo to New York to Washington, D.C. to London to Vienna. There are some smart people who are getting SICK of the bad (or, even worse, "managed") information -- when there IS any -- the inconsistencies, the indecision, the lack of visibility, to say nothing of transparency, and, perhaps most damaging, the growing feeling that people who have the responsibility to inform, to act and to lead are fiddling while the world burns. There is a gnawing, growing dread out there, in its own way as cancerous and damaging as anything that might be in the air, on the land or in the seas; and there isn't much more time remaining before unsettled, nervous, scared people start acting out. With the shift in tone, here and in many other places on the Internet lately, I can state with confidence that this IS beginning to occur. That, at least, ought to light a fire under people with degrees, microphones and corner offices to start saying SOMETHING other than, "Nothing to see here, folks! Move along!"
ADDENDUM: The post (I assume, by a Berkeley Nuclear Engineering Department member) acknowledging that there may be MAJOR differences between EXPOSED dosages, and INGESTED ones, is both responsible and ominous. I hope it won't be too long before we get some clarification on that front... From SOMEWHERE.
Maybe there's not the giant
Maybe there's not the giant uproar and huge concern because it's not that bad of an issue. If you're not hearing any scientists anywhere speak up about it, it's probably because there's not an issue to speak about. No need for the fretting, the CAPS LOCK, or the (as you said) "conspiracy" thoughts.
Absolutely agree with the
Absolutely agree with the original poster. I have tried to contact EPA, wrote emails, tried to call. Sent emails to the CA Senator Barbara Boxer.
It is very creepy how they are steering attention away from this astronomical tragedy. I agree we need to get some truthful answers. The silence from our own government is reprehensible at best. I have never in my 42 yrs been so angered and disgusted with our government as I am now.I feel they have abandoned and betrayed all Americans.
I think one way we can start getting some attention is to start going viral. Make them not be able to ignore us anymore. Tweet it. Add all the media stations you can find and on one of their tweets click reply. Make it short and sweet. "We want answers from the EPA", be creative! Also, post links to info solid,truthful and simple facts about radiation with the title "What they are not telling you about radiation."
By the way you will want to watch this. This man is a warrior in an industry shrouded with a code of silence. More vid's in the media section. Also sometimes the webpage doesn't want to open. Go through the cache or current page and it works.
http://www.fairewinds.com/
Another very good article by Dr. Mark Sircus
http://www.plamero.com/2011/03/dr-mark-sircus-flying-blind-japan-nuclear...
And another from Gaurdian UK
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/apr/04/open-door-explaining...
This is the type of plain english that people need to read. At least then they will come to understand that it isn't the immediate effects we need to be concerned with. Its the long term issues, the ones that we are not being warned about. That is why so many people just don't care. Because they don't know the facts.
So ad those media sources on Twitter and get this out there
CBS
NBC
ABC
FOX
KCAL
MSNBC
CNN
AP
REUTERS
Newspapers
Radio News
Facebook posts
I cannot believe these people
Monday, April 04, 2011 12:38 +0900 (JST)
Govt did not reveal high level radiation estimate
It has been learned that the Japanese government withheld the release of computer projections indicating high levels of radioactivity in areas more than 30 kilometers from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The estimates were made on March 16th following explosions at the plant by an institute commissioned by the government using a computer system called SPEEDI. The system made its projections on the assumption that radioactive substances had been released for 24 hours from midnight on March 14th, based on the available data.
But the government was reluctant to reveal the SPEEDI projections, and did not release them until March 23rd.
The released data showed that higher levels of radioactive substances would flow over areas to the northwest and southwest of the plant.
The estimates showed that the radiation would exceed 100 millisieverts in some areas more than 30 kilometers from the nuclear plant if people remained outdoors for 24 hours between March 12th and 24th.
That is 100 times higher than the 1 millisievert-per-year long-term reference level for humans as recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection.
The Nuclear Safety Commission says it did not release the projections because the location or the amount of radioactive leakage was not specified at the time.
Professor emeritus Shigenobu Nagataki of Nagasaki University, says the government should release more data about the dangers of possible radiation exposure and draw up evacuation plans and other measures together with residents.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-news/japanese-withheld-infor...
Can't someone with the
Can't someone with the knowledge, create a site to take online survey or signatures to demand EPA step up it's game and inform people of precise nature of this disaster?
EPA's info could include things like study of long term effect of low dose of radiation, chance of cancer in lifetime (in percentage) for certain doses, internal and external effects, etc.Of course include real time, or least near real time, daily readings across US.
Lastly, why isn't NOAA releasing plume simulation data like other countries like Norway, Germany, France? Non-disclosures of data of these sorts are exactly reason why I tend to side toward mistrust
Call to action
Thank you to the professors & students for the monitoring and the web site. Please keep us as informed as possible. In today's NY Times article : From Afar, Clear View of Crisis in Japan "...the public authorities have sought to avoid grim technical details that might trigger alarm or even panic. 'They don't want to go there' said Robert Alvarez, a nuclear expert who, from 1993 to 199, was a policy adviser to the secretary of energy. 'The spin is all about reassurance'..."
Dr. Helen Caldicott (http://www.helencaldicott.com) calls it "a medical problem of vast dimensions" and " What we have also seen is a second tsunami of a different kind – a tidal wave of blow-back from the nuclear industry around the world, which has been rocked back on its heels by Fukushima but is now regrouping. There are claims that radiation is good for you; that nuclear power is still the only answer to global warming; and that fears about the safety of nuclear power are unwarranted and panic-stricken.
Let us be clear: there are billions and billions of dollars at stake for the nuclear industry, which has, as I’ve written earlier, managed to bamboozle governments around the world , much of the press, and many ordinary citizens into believing that nuclear power is green and clean. Nothing could be further from the truth. The industry will not walk away from that money without a fight" Dr. Caldicott has been interviewed recently on KPFA.
Most people I know, including those who are the most politically sophisticated, are either in denial about this issue or completely bamboozled. I was taught by my parents how to read between the lines of the "spin" and my mother kept us out of the rain during the nuke tests in the early 60s. If people want to activate, there will be a No War No Nukes demonstration April 10 at Dolores Park SF 11:00 am followed by a rally and then a march at 1:30.
I also feel that there is a
I also feel that there is a huge "disconnect" going on. It seems the top news story is always Libya--as if there isn't a much more important global crisis happening right now.
Also--I read on Reuters's site several days ago that Japan was recruiting help from U.S. nuclear energy experts (not jumpers, but engineers, etc.) and that they would be going to Japan Sunday (today), to work as paid consultants to try to come up with solutions. There was a quote saying the Japanese wanted help to "think outside the box." I thought this was encouraging, and am eager to hear what happens, but the story seems to have disappeared from the news, and I never heard a thing about it from NPR or any US-based news outlet. Do they think we don't care? Or do they just not care, and are too jazzed about having a new war to report on?
Thank goodness for this site, it makes me feel like I'm not crazy to at least want to keep informed about this.
totally agree with you
i totally agree with you, especially with some people not knowing at all that it is still going on etc. My neighbors are laughinag about the 'radiation".
The problem is if you have no medical or scientific background these concepts of radiation and cell damage and ingestion may not be easy to understand for the lay person. That is part of the problem. Most people do not know that I131 can cause thyroid cancer. When i told a friend, he freaked out stating nothing like that is in the news.
I agree
Yes. I see no one has commented on your comment, so I thought I'd just add my piece so you don't think you're crazy. The disconnect between what's actually happening and the widespread apparent denial is alarming in itself. I do think there are a lot of people who are extremely concerned but feel sort of doomed by it all and simply go ahead with their daily lives because they do not know what else to do. Like you, I surfing the Internet to find reassurance from information that reconciles the wide gaps between bits of conflicting news. For example, we've read news reports implying the threat from I-131 would be short-term, due to its short half-life *now that it's not longer being emitted from Fukushima* (paraphrase). Well, that immediately concerned me because I assumed it wasn't true: i.e., that Fukushima continues to emit I-131 as long as this disaster unfolds. Then I read something similar on this site, relating to the spike of I-131 in Bay Area rainwater around 3/23, explaining that I-131 is a byproduct of fission, which indeed stopped when the reactor were shut down. Well, that was reassuring for a while, but is it true? We really need scientists, government and business people, writers, and yes mental health professionals, to step up to the plate now. Those of us without special skills or education are needed to stand up and demand the best from all of these folks. We're all in this together -- we all drink the same water, breathe the same air, eat the same food. No one is well-served by incomplete or inadequate or poorly phrased information or information that is biased for or against the long-term future of nuclear power, etc. We must all rise to the occasion.
Thanks for your response!
Thank you, Anonymous, for saying "amen!" (or words to that effect).
Like you say -- it's the DISCONNECT that's becoming alarming. I read NHK, Kyodo News, and the various IAEA and TEPCO and EPA announcements almost in realtime, and although SOME specific information is beginning to trickle out (perhaps an unlovely metaphor, given what's apparently GUSHING out into the open ocean from Fukushima-I), there's ALSO a helluva lot of flat-out CONTRADICTORY stuff being thrown around. Frankly, I don't understand why the heck the Japanese government hasn't just nationalized TEPCO (at the very least, the Fukushima Daiichi Plant) and put it under nominal military control... These clowns at the helm of Tokyo Electric make Madoff and Skilling look positively upright, and BP and Union Carbide looks like absolute STEWARDS of the environment by comparison. That TEPCO president, who disappeared for two weeks right after his plant started blowing sky-high, then conveniently checked into a hospital just as questions about his protracted absence started getting asked, should be put up against a wall and shot. (I am not actually advising or recommending that violence be done to the man; it's a figure of speech, although my passions about the man are fairly intense at the moment.) And although at least the Japanese PM is beginning to get into the game, now, it's not like anyone watching has been inspired with the transparency, consistency, efficiency or competence of ANYONE involved -- with the exception of the brave and dutiful souls who have the unfortunate responsibility of dealing with this horrible mess.
Anyway, thanks again for giving me some company... I have to admit, I don't often dig around to find out if anyone's "seconding" what I say online, but I WAS a little... confused, I guess... that no one seemed to be agreeing with me. I readily admit: I'm more than a little panicked at the moment, and not for myself: I'm turning 40 this year, I figure everything from here on out is a gift. But my daughter is just eleven... And I simply do not have the resources at present to buy and store six months' worth of meat or dairy products, or to buy hundreds of gallons of bottled water every month, or to stock up on canned goods to last until this crisis abates. Like so many families, we're just getting by right now, and it's nearly more than we can do just to keep the same roof over our heads, the bills paid and the cars running. And that's probably more than anyone really needs to know, but I kinda doubt I'm the only person here wondering: Am I going to be able to protect my family AT ALL?
Anyway -- thanks again, have a good evening, and God bless.
Keep the focus here on results of this lab's work
I wrote the "I agree" comment above and I want to clarify, if there was any question, that I think the authors of this UCBerkeley Engineering Department are providing EXACTLY the kind of quality information that I am lobbying for. If you're reading this in Berkeley -- or even have time to do so amid everything you're doing to track this problem (along with your normal jobs, school work, etc.) -- please know you are super-appreciated. To be sure that I don't bog down the site with non-scientific questions, I will not submit further comments that might hijack or otherwise distract the conversation from the very important work you're doing -- monitoring the impact of this disaster within your immediate geographic gathering area and your expertise. I admire your effort to enhance what you're doing with the assistance of a health physicist, but rather than use your time moderating and posting that person's comments, I'd suggest simply enlisting someone else within the UC system to create a similar blog elsewhere that you can link to. (I realize on rereading my post that the answer to my question about whether I-131 releases are continuing can be answered by a little more online research of my own with reputable sources, so I'll follow up. Anyone with the same question about I-131 can email me at klynstra@yahoo.com and I'll share what I learn) Thanks again UC.
Denial
Yes the disconnect between the reality of what's going on and the attention it's getting from governments, mass media and the public is indeed disconcerting. As well as the massive holes in information. Not surprising though when you consider the overall state of the world (and for a specific example the huge discrepancy between the Chernobyl take detailed in Deadly Deceit and the "official" death tally.) As many leading anti-nuclear folks have stated for decades, human beings playing with fire that has consequences for hundreds of thousands of years is not advisable seeing how we generally don't have good foresight out even a few decades. Even in our own lifetimes, the long lag between nuclear fallout and the occurrence of cancer by and large serves to obscure the connection (though detailed painstaking analysis can overcome this obstacle, as I believe the authors of Deadly Deceit have done.)
You are not alone.
There can be no long term
There can be no long term future for nuclear fuel. It must be phased out of civilian use. medical research is the only responsible use.
Here Here
I am chiming in that you are not alone. I am barely making it financially and trying to buy food/water for extra months is nearly impossible. Thank you for raising the IMPORTANCE LEVEL of what we are talking about here. Thank you for some well-placed "panic." We do need a huge call to action for transparency of information from Fukushima and US radiation measurements and huge investments in solar, hydro, and wind energy!!! THANK YOU for speaking your mind--original poster, and those who responded.