Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Finding it Hard...


I'm still following the Japanese Fukushima situation very, very closely. I read a variety of blogs daily and I check all mainstream press for links on the plant.

Very little information is being released by Tepco and the Japanese government.

One is forced to infer developments from unconfirmed reports from local people in Japan.

Occasionally, the Japanese media report a tiny bit of news that may, or may not, be true.

The best one can hope from them at this point is that they quote someone with some level of knowledge and/or expertise. They have, thankfully, quoted a few people willing to speak truth to power.

The American media have been just as compliant. We hear almost nothing from Japan and when we do the news does not cover the actually worsening catastrophe over there. (we don't hear much about our own nuclear problems, either)

Yet, the news that is leaking out reveals that the Fukushima disaster is getting worse as radioactive cracks appear at the plants venting very hot, radioactive steam.

China syndrome gets to play out in the real world.

I never saw the movie so I don't know how it ended in the film version.

I don't know how it is going to end in the real version either, but the thing that is so terrifying is that it appears that none of the so-called experts know either.

That has me worried. It seems that physicists are not quite sure how to halt abruptly the fissioning of the fuel they created when it escapes containment.

All of this makes living everyday life as if everything was normal rather difficult, particularly when I'm teaching organizational studies and public relations this semester.

I would like to tell the students how public relations really works using the Fukushima disaster (but of course I do not).

Given my efforts at normalcy, I'm finding it hard to check the radnet data because radiation levels are absolutely elevated in many areas of the country and have been for months now. How can I act normal when I just saw that cities in my country have beta counts for days at 700-800 CPM? How can I act normal when I see how many other cities the EPA is censoring data from?

That is why I'm not posting the data anymore--it is hard to act normal when one reads the EPA's radnet materials. One can always find the graphs here
http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2011/04/12/realtime-epa-radnet-japan-nuclear-radiation-monitoring-every-us-city-single-page-16511/

I'm also finding it hard to add additional material to the chapter I'm writing on Fukushima. The situation seems so precarious and the recent evacuation drill has reinforced statements by several experts who fear another, massive explosion.

I cannot write any more because, well, because I am numb from the uncertainty. What do I say?

I feel like I'm some character in a drawn out, poorly plotted, and poorly performed film script.

I want to wake up to hear that the nations of the world have decided to join forces openly to fight the mega disaster that is Fukushima. When I hear that I can begin to hope that this script has a happy ending and begin to write again.




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