Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency admitted that the disaster was a level 5, which is classified as a crisis causing 'several radiation deaths' by the UN International Atomic Energy.
Officials said the rating was raised after they realised the full extent of the radiation leaking from the plant. They also said that 3 per cent of the fuel in three of the reactors at the Fukushima plant had been severely damaged, suggesting those reactor cores have partially melted down.
After Tokyo Electric Power Company Managing Director Akio Komiri cried as he left a conference to brief journalists on the situation at Fukushima, a senior Japanese minister also admitted that the country was overwhelmed by the scale of the tsunami and nuclear crisis.
He said officials should have admitted earlier how serious the radiation leaks were.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said: 'The unprecedented scale of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, frankly speaking, were among many things that happened that had not been anticipated under our disaster management contingency plans.
'In hindsight, we could have moved a little quicker in assessing the situation and coordinating all that information and provided it faster.'
Nuclear experts have been saying for days that Japan was underplaying the crisis' severity.
It is now officially on a par with the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania in 1979. Only the explosion at Chernobyl in 1986 has topped the scale.
Deputy director general of the NISA, Hideohiko Nishiyama, also admitted that they do not know if the reactors are coming under control..."
This lack of transparency is mirrored in other industrial accidents around the world, significant among them, the Gulf oil spill - the consequences of which are still being concealed and denied by the US government.
The Mail also unveils this astonishing story of a nuclear accident in Britain in 1957, which has led to cancer decades later in a region that is still actively being despoiled by continuing deposits of radioactive nuclear waste. Everyone should become aware of such deceptive practices and be under no illusions about the motivations of corporate officials and regulatory agencies that fear accountability and financial liability above any considerations of public safety.
At least this executive is capable of a real human emotion, unlike the executives in the West who are classic case sociopaths, incapable of sorrow, remorse, empathy and compassion.
ReplyDeleteI know that's not saying much, and a small consolation for the disaster that is still unfolding.
Not Sellafield. That's the place's new, post-leak name. It used to be called Windscale. As if changing a name would wipe the problem from the collective consciousness.
ReplyDeleteYou might also want to google Dounreay, to see the mess that can be made when a government wants to experiment with (then) new fast breeder reactor technology. You will notice it's about as far away from the capital as it is possible to be and still be on the mainland. Can't imagine why! They have begun decommissioning Dounreay, and it's going to be some time and very expensive before it's completed. And the foreshore will still be contaminated.
Serinde
I would also remind US readers that the Daily Mail is a generally right-wing tabloid newspaper, Associated Newspapers Ltd, and whose editor is an odd combination of authoritarian/conservative/libertarian. Not considered a reliable source, in other words. If you want to read reliable conservative British opinion, your best bet is The Telegraph. (I read the Guardian, myself, which is owned in trust, not by a company for profit.)
A sign of things to come.
ReplyDeletehttp://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/19_21.html
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano says the government was informed around 5:30 PM on Friday that higher levels of radiation than the legal standard were detected in fresh milk from cows at a dairy farm in Fukushima Prefecture.
He also said that at 11:00 AM on Saturday, the government received information that six samples of spinach tested at a research institute in Ibaraki Prefecture contained higher levels of radiation than the official standard.
Early on Saturday morning, the health ministry asked Ibaraki Prefecture to determine where the spinach samples came from and their distribution route.
The prefecture was also asked to take measures under the Food Sanitation Law if necessary, including a ban on sales.
Of course, not that it will make a bit of difference to the zombies here in America. Like Mikey, they'll eat it and like it as emphatically, and cluelessly, as Mikey.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYEXzx-TINc
A new theme song for Wit's End. If only the trees could speak, and maybe they do and we just aren't listening except for a select few like Gail.....the Tree Whisperers, they would say exactly this.....All We Need Is The Air That We Breath.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7duPNQCp-w4
The wife and I saw a movie yesterday in living color, and I thought it was good metaphor. It's entitled Damage, and if you haven't ever seen it, you really must. Here's a link to a synopsis, and a trailer.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104237/
Don't let the lame attempts to describe this masterpiece dissuade you from experiencing this treasure. It's simply superb in every respect. I cannot get it out of my mind, it was so profoundly deep and multi-layered. The wife and I can't stop talking about it....picking it apart, devouring it, and it still just keeps on giving. It's based off of the book of the same name authored by Josephine Hart, published in 1991. Here's a quote.....the movie, and no doubt the book, are full of such profundity.
Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.
I think I saw that in the theaters when it was first released but thank you for reminding me - I will have to watch it again.
ReplyDeleteSo much looks completely different, now.