Empowering victims of the Fukushima Frenzy to resist radiation FUD

Dr. James Conca has published another important post about the aftermath of Fukushima and the efforts of the people opposed to the use of nuclear energy to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt about imaginary health effects of low dose radiation. The article is titled Fukushima 2.25 — The Humanitarian Crisis; it is a “must read”…

Civil disobedience might be needed to overcome illogical EPA limits on radiation

Jim Hopf recently published a thought provoking post on ANS Nuclear Cafe titled New EPA Guidelines for Response to Radioactivity Releases. In that post he points out the illogical way that the EPA applies and enforces its assumption that any ionizing radiation is hazardous, even down at levels far below natural background. Jim points out…

How much I-131 and Cs-137 was released into atmosphere at Fukushima?

Total mass of main isotopes of concern from Fukushima:I-131 – 43 gramsCs-137 – 4 kilograms The Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology Volume 50, Issue 3, 2013 contains a paper titled Source term estimation of atmospheric release due to the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident by atmospheric and oceanic dispersion simulations. Using the best…

Atomic Show #201 – Better Way to Clean Up Hanford Tanks

Darryl Siemer is a professional chemist who spent his career in nuclear waste remediation at the Idaho National Laboratory. While there, he developed a reputation as someone who will not go along to get along and apparently made quite a few waves by suggesting improvements in processes or technical decisions that might have resulted in…

Responding properly to nuclear plant accidents involving radiation releases

In the 21 months since three the fuel cores in three nuclear reactors melted at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station, there has been a substantial investment made in learning lessons from the event. Nuclear trained people are members of a learning community, we generally try to make sure that we do not waste any…

NRC Chairman writes about enhancing safety after a visit to Fukushima, Japan

On December 21, 2012, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) blog posted a letter from Chairman Macfarlane titled A Visit to Japan: Reflections from the Chairman. She has recently returned from a trip to Japan and a visit to the evacuated areas near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station. Here are her concluding thoughts: On…

Time for rational risk evaluation of energy sources – natural gas versus nuclear

It is way past time to begin the long process of helping people understand how to rationally weigh the risks versus benefits of available power or fuel systems. For far too many years, promoters of immensely profitable products like natural gas have been loudly and frequently telling society about its benefits while glossing over the…

Let the people of Fukushima go home and get back to work

By: Ted Rockwell Introduction: This op-ed was originally submitted to the Washington Post. The editors determined that the proper place for it was as a letter to the editor, but of course it is much too detailed and lengthy for that venue. Since the Post did not choose to do anything with it, Ted gave…

The need for more rational radiation protection standards

A frequent commenter on Atomic Insights is a very experienced nuclear professional who often keeps me on my toes by sharing thoughts that are fairly common in our community. I have recently been posting quite a number of blogs on the need to revise radiation protection standards to base them on a more accurate model…

A Plea for Common Sense – Radiation Protection Rules Need Amendment

This post was written by Ted Rockwell. A Plea for Common Sense New lessons are beginning to emerge from Fukushima. Each new problem leads to heaping on additional safety requirements. But some contradictions are beginning to raise questions: Amid tens of thousands of deaths from non-nuclear causes, not a single life-shortening radiation injury has occurred….

What should “Radioactive Wolves” teach critical thinkers?

Radioactive Wolves, the first episode of the 30th season of PBS’s Nature, documents current conditions in the area that was forcibly evacuated following the uncontrolled radioactive material releases caused when the operators at the Chernobyl nuclear power station conducted a poorly planned experiment and blew up their power plant. In the absence of human beings,…