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This really strikes chord with how Fukushima was treated - nothing to be concerned about, citizen, move along and enjoy swimming on a Fukushima beach a year lat

by bitL 9y ago

This really strikes chord with how Fukushima was treated - nothing to be concerned about, citizen, move along and enjoy swimming on a Fukushima beach a year later... One would think this would happen only in communist societies but seeing it happening in Japan and everybody being fine with that was shocking. And then there were people pointing out xkcd and bananas, downplaying the effects and conflating radiation dust effects you can wash away with inhaled/ingested particles that get incorporated to bones and tissues with grim long-term effects. Comparing to Japan, even USSR behaved in some way more responsibly as they threw a couple of million people at the problem at the cost of waging a war just to clean up what they could. All we got from Japan was there is no issue, TEPCO saying all is fine and then suddenly a big hole in the reactor where all robots stop functioning and who knows how much water continuously being contaminated for a few years already. All because panic is the bigger evil (is it? or just the "fat cats" decided it is?)

TeMPOraL 9y ago
Well, now that the dust settled, it turned out they were perfectly right, and pretty much all the damage to lives and the region was caused by panic and evacuation.
- anon182429 9y ago
  Yes except for all the radioactive groundwater, total loss of fuel as it melted through the containment vessel into the ground as discovered by the robots they sent to investigate causing potentially unknown damage, and by the TEPCO's own admission, will take 40 years to clean up with technology that hasn't been invented yet. Besides that, everything is a-okay.
- bitL 9y ago
  And that's why there is a permanent exclusion zone no one is allowed to enter and the videos posted on YouTube by Japanese themselves showing significantly raised background radiations on certain spots in Tokyo were produced by irresponsible people using uncalibrated unapproved instruments, right? Or reports of metallic taste after first rains since meltdowns etc. It was just a show produced by Hollywood spread by fake news, right?
  - valuearb 9y ago
    https://xkcd.com/radiation/ https://xkcd.com/radiation/
adrianN 9y ago
Fukushima is several orders of magnitude less severe than Chernobyl. Raising panic is not without risk either, people die because of evacuations.
- bitL 9y ago
  Fukushima: "As of 2014, a peer reviewed estimate of the total was 340–800 PBq, with 80% falling into the Pacific Ocean.[8] Radiation continues to be released into the Pacific via groundwater." Chernobyl: "5.2 EBq (5,200 PBq)" From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Fukushima_and_Chernobyl_nuclear_accidents https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Fukushima_and_Ch... So it's a magnitude (though still in progress) and "luckily" most of the damage went to the ocean. Now how much sea life and derived food is contaminated is anyone's guess and what the long-term consequences on ocean ecosystem from continuous flow of radioactive particles will be is an interesting question.
tlear 9y ago
People who raised panic are responsible for huge damage of people's lives. It was same in Chernobyl, tens of thousands got their life fucked. Alcoholism general belief in being damaged and worthles. I fucking hate USSR government(I was born an lived in Kyiv at the time). But people who fear monger come up with bullshit ar just as guilty.
ageofwant 9y ago
Are you friggin kidding me? Not a single person was killed by nuclear exposure after a 8.4M earthquake killed 25000 people. The forced removal of people lead to 1000+ suicides.
- bitL 9y ago
  This is obviously a loaded statement. There were reports of plant workers that died because of unexpected radiation exposure. Moreover, in many cases radiation causes damage after XY years of being inside human body, so we will only see in the next decades what the toll is. There is also water leaking for how many years already, nobody able to do anything about it and radiation from Fukushima detected on Hawaii in the sea water already (though minuscule amounts). And how much information is swept under the rug to maintain "face"? Your statement is either naive or intentional, the effect is the same.
  - valuearb 9y ago
    https://xkcd.com/radiation/ https://xkcd.com/radiation/

by bitL 9y ago

TeMPOraL 9y ago

Well, now that the dust settled, it turned out they were perfectly right, and pretty much all the damage to lives and the region was caused by panic and evacuation.

anon182429 9y ago
Yes except for all the radioactive groundwater, total loss of fuel as it melted through the containment vessel into the ground as discovered by the robots they sent to investigate causing potentially unknown damage, and by the TEPCO's own admission, will take 40 years to clean up with technology that hasn't been invented yet. Besides that, everything is a-okay.
bitL 9y ago
And that's why there is a permanent exclusion zone no one is allowed to enter and the videos posted on YouTube by Japanese themselves showing significantly raised background radiations on certain spots in Tokyo were produced by irresponsible people using uncalibrated unapproved instruments, right? Or reports of metallic taste after first rains since meltdowns etc. It was just a show produced by Hollywood spread by fake news, right?
- valuearb 9y ago
  https://xkcd.com/radiation/ https://xkcd.com/radiation/

adrianN 9y ago

Fukushima is several orders of magnitude less severe than Chernobyl. Raising panic is not without risk either, people die because of evacuations.

bitL 9y ago
Fukushima: "As of 2014, a peer reviewed estimate of the total was 340–800 PBq, with 80% falling into the Pacific Ocean.[8] Radiation continues to be released into the Pacific via groundwater." Chernobyl: "5.2 EBq (5,200 PBq)" From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Fukushima_and_Chernobyl_nuclear_accidents https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Fukushima_and_Ch... So it's a magnitude (though still in progress) and "luckily" most of the damage went to the ocean. Now how much sea life and derived food is contaminated is anyone's guess and what the long-term consequences on ocean ecosystem from continuous flow of radioactive particles will be is an interesting question.

tlear 9y ago

People who raised panic are responsible for huge damage of people's lives. It was same in Chernobyl, tens of thousands got their life fucked. Alcoholism general belief in being damaged and worthles. I fucking hate USSR government(I was born an lived in Kyiv at the time). But people who fear monger come up with bullshit ar just as guilty.

ageofwant 9y ago

Are you friggin kidding me? Not a single person was killed by nuclear exposure after a 8.4M earthquake killed 25000 people. The forced removal of people lead to 1000+ suicides.

bitL 9y ago
This is obviously a loaded statement. There were reports of plant workers that died because of unexpected radiation exposure. Moreover, in many cases radiation causes damage after XY years of being inside human body, so we will only see in the next decades what the toll is. There is also water leaking for how many years already, nobody able to do anything about it and radiation from Fukushima detected on Hawaii in the sea water already (though minuscule amounts). And how much information is swept under the rug to maintain "face"? Your statement is either naive or intentional, the effect is the same.
- valuearb 9y ago
  https://xkcd.com/radiation/ https://xkcd.com/radiation/