Every Nuclear Explosion Since 1945

Here's a fascinating video representing every nuclear explosion since 1945.

As long-time friend and now Facebook friend Brian Rock pointed out, did you know there were 2 in Mississippi?



Missi--freakin'--ssippi?

One of the things about this that is especially illuminating to me---pun no way intended--is that so many of these blasts were tested by the US, the then Soviet Union and England on our own/their own land. England doing them in Australia.

It seems the height of irresponsibility and possible danger, to me.

Seems the more you learn of what we humans do to the Earth and one another, you get amazed we're still here.

Quote of the day

"The nuclear arms race is like two sworn enemies standing waist deep in gasoline, one with three matches, the other with five." --Carl Sagan

On this day...

On this date in 1945, the first atomic bomb was successfully tested near Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Kim Jong-Un already rumored today to be dead

Sure, right now it's an unconfirmed rumor but this is HUGE. If true, and the military did kill him, the world is in for one heck of a wild ride, I'd guess. We'll see. Yikes. Hold your breath, folks. Here's hoping it's an absurd untruth. Link: http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/02/10/kim-jong-un-assassination-rumours-flood-twitter-weibo/

Chernobyl's sobering anniversary

At this time of the Japanese people suffering through first a tsunami, then earthquakes and still, the ongoing Fukushima nuclear reactor debacle, it's a sobering reminder of nuclear energy's downsides to keep in mind that today, April 26, is the 25 year anniversary of the horrific nightmare that was the Chernobyl, Russia nuclear reactor explosions and disaster.

The question becomes, are we going to learn?

Link:  http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/04/25-4

Japan: Good news/bad news

The good news from Japan right now is that their government is being honest with them, the populace, and protecting them (probably, mostly) and telling them what's going on.

The bad news is that, as we suspected, it's not good:

Japan ups nuke crisis severity to match Chernobyl

By Yuri Kageyama And Ryan Nakashima, Associated Press


TOKYO – Japan's nuclear regulators raised the severity level of the crisis at a stricken nuclear plant Tuesday to rank it on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, citing the amount of radiation released in the accident.


The regulators said the rating was being raised from 5 to 7 — the highest level on an international scale overseen by the International Atomic Energy Agency. However, there was no sign of any significant change at the tsunami-stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant.


The new ranking signifies a "major accident" with "wider consequences" than the previous level, according to the Vienna-based IAEA.


"We have upgraded the severity level to 7 as the impact of radiation leaks has been widespread from the air, vegetables, tap water and the ocean," said Minoru Oogoda of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

NISA officials said one of the factors behind the decision was that the cumulative amount of radioactive particles released into the atmosphere since the incident had reached levels that apply to a Level 7 incident.


The revision was based on cross-checking and assessments of data on leaks of radioactive iodine-131 and cesium-137, said NISA spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama.


Meantime, over here in the States, our government is telling us precious little.  The French, for pity's sake, reported better data on what came over California than ours did.   (See yesterday's post).

Link:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_japan_earthquake

Those poor Japanese

Here they go again.  Yet more trouble for them, as though they haven't got enough problems:

Magnitude 7.4 earthquake hits off Japan coast

TOKYO – Japan was rattled by a strong aftershock and tsunami warning Thursday night nearly a month after a devastating earthquake and tsunami flattened the northeastern coast.

The Japan meteorological agency issued a tsunami warning for a wave of up to one meter. The warning was issued for a coastal area already torn apart by last month's tsunami.

Officials say Thursday's quake was a 7.4-magnitude and hit 25 miles (40 kilometers) under the water and off the coast of Miyagi prefecture. The quake that preceded last month's tsunami was a 9.0-magnitude.

Buildings as far away as Tokyo shook for about a minute.

I hope some crazy, fundamentalist lunatics don't start spouting off about how the Japanese are "sinners", bringing this upon themselves.

And now for the aftershocks.

Link:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_earthquake

Will the US cooperate with France's desire for "global nuclear reform"?

First, what seems to be great news for the Japanese--this is the first day I can remember that there isn't some new, huge revelation concerning their nuclear power plants and radiation additionally going who-knows-where.

Let's hope it holds, for their and everyone's sake.

So here's the subject for today:  France has proposed

France -- the most nuclear-dependent country in the world -- called for new global nuclear rules and proposed a global conference in France for May as President Nicolas Sarkozy made a quick visit to Tokyo Thursday to show support.

France is a global leader in the nuclear industry, and Paris has flown in experts from state-owned nuclear reactor maker Areva to work with Japanese engineers.

As stubborn as we Americans are and have increasingly become, it seems, especially since our cowboy Texas president, George W. Bush, and since the Libertarians and Tea Party have formed and increased in number, do you think there will be any American will to go along with the rest of the world and both set and follow nuclear rules and standards for safety?

We did not/would not go along with the rest of the world's Kyoto Protocol on climate change.  Remember that?

Have we become so entrenched with the thought and assumption that we have to prevail over all that we're no longer capable of "cooperating with others"?

It will be interesting to see.

Link:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110401/ts_nm/us_japan_quake_338

It's gotten worse: here's Japan's SECOND shocker for the same day

Dang it.

Japan has not one new shocking revelation for today but now two:

Japan orders more beef testing

TOKYO – Japan's health ministry says it has ordered more tests after a cow slaughtered for beef near the tsunami-stricken nuclear plant was found to have radioactive contamination slightly higher than the legal limit.

These people just can't get a break.

And as I said earlier, the "shocking revelation" and development for the day is followed closely by "reassurance" from government and nuclear officials:

Officials stressed that the meat was not ever put on the market. Contamination has already been found in vegetables and raw milk near the plant, which has been leaking radiation since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

The cow had a total cesium level of 510 becquerels per kilogram. The limit is 500. A person could eat beef with that level of contamination for decades without getting sick.

Right.

If I'm Japanese right now, I wouldn't be feeling any better about it.

Tucked in between these last two quotes, above, was this:

Ministry spokesman Taku Ohara says the cesium was found in a cow slaughtered March 15 more than 40 miles (70 kilometers) from the plant. People within a 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius have been evacuated.

People have been evacuated from the area where the cattle have to be left, the cattle have radioactive contamination higher than the allowed limit but I'm--what?--still supposed to eat local meats?

I don't think so.

Link:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_japan_earthquake;_ylt=AsPzPznjr_fZwwM9aTVOboBa24cA;_ylu=X3oDMTM3YTNhbjQ0BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwMzMxL2FzX2phcGFuX2VhcnRocXVha2UEY2NvZGUDbXBfZWNfOF8xMARjcG9zAzMEcG9zAzMEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNqYXBhbm9yZGVyc20-

On Japan's nuclear meltdown: Here we go again

Indeed, here we go again.

First there's this:

On Wednesday, nuclear safety officials said seawater 300 yards (meters) outside the plant contained 3,355 times the legal limit for the amount of radioactive iodine — the highest rate yet and a sign that more contaminated water was making its way into the ocean.

Then, predictably, there's this:

The amount of iodine-131 found south of the plant does not pose an immediate threat to human health but was a "concern," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency official. He said there was no fishing in the area.

These reports seem to follow this pattern virtually daily and the pattern is this:  first there's news of some new, significant report, telling of surprising radioactive exposure somewhere in or around the area and then, not surprisingly, there's some nuclear or government "official" there to say, just as quickly, that everything is a-okay and, like here, that it "does not pose and immediate threat to human health...", trailing off.

Right.

Now, about that ocean front property I'd like to show you in Nevada.

Link to original story:   http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_japan_earthquake;_ylt=AhJfNKLBoTYgtrFErbqNGZaGOrgF;_ylu=X3oDMTJ2cmdhYzRvBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwMzMwL2FzX2phcGFuX2VhcnRocXVha2UEY2NvZGUDbXAEY3BvcwMyBHBvcwMyBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDc2V0YmFja3Ntb3Vu

Japan: Too little, tragically late

From the "far too late" file:

Japan vows to review nuclear safety standards

By MARI YAMAGUCHI and YURI KAGEYAMA, Associated Press

TOKYO – Japan's government vowed Tuesday to overhaul nuclear safety standards once its radiation-leaking reactor complex is under control, admitting that its safeguards were insufficient to protect the plant against the March 11 tsunami.

Okay, they didn't do this--they didn't have stringent enough "nuclear safety standards" in place and in effect.

Could we take this, as a country--heck, as a world?--and learn from this, now, ahead of time, far before anything remotely close to this ever happens again? 

We need to learn these lessons and we need to learn them now.

Link:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_japan_earthquake

Surprise! Yet more bad news from Japan

Or rather, no surprise, sadly:

Japan Finds More Foods Tainted By Radioactive Material

As more radioactive material from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant finds its way into the environment, Japan's health ministry is compiling a growing list of foods that have been contaminated.

First came reports of tainted milk, spinach and other leafy greens. Then on Sunday, the health ministry released a new list with a total of 99 different products that had tested positive for radioactive iodine-131 and cesium-137 in Tokyo and five other prefectures. Some of those foods might surprise you.

--Wasabi (Japanese horseradish)

--Cucumbers

--Chrysanthemum (Shungiku)

--Mustard greens (Mizuna)

--Green onions

Unfortunately, that's not the only bad news for and from Japan today, either:

Japan in 'Maximum Alert' as It Struggles to Contain Nuclear Crisis

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said his government was "in a state of maximum alert" as the crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant continues to spread, with radioactive contamination in the air, soil and water near the plant. Crews used sandbags to prevent radioactive water from the plant from leaking into the Pacific Ocean, and plutonium found in some soil indicates a possible melting of one of the plant's reactors. If a reactor were to completely melt down, massive amounts of radioactive material would be released.

The "ultimate takeaway", for me, from this Japan Fukushima reactor meltdown, due to the earthquake and tsunami?

I bet we learn very little from this multi-level tragedy but end up pressing on, blindly, with nuclear energy.  (With the exception of Germany, who already said they were wisely, singularly, apparently going to bail on the technology).

Wanna' bet?

Link:  http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/03/29/134930199/japan-finds-more-foods-tainted-by-radioactive-material?ps=sh_sthdl
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/03/japan-in-maximum-alert-as-it-struggles-to-contain-nuclear-crisis.html

More (radioactive) nonsense from Japan

How many times are we going to hear from "Japanese officials" that "everything's fine" over there and that the radioactivity "while high, is still within safe and acceptable limits for exposure to radioactivity"?  I don't know if we'll be able to count that far.

The latest this morning:

Radiation in Japan seawater, soil may be spreading

Terrific, eh?  Into the ocean.  Yay.  It just keeps getting better and better.

At the same time all the "authorities" are saying everything's still okay, there was this, from this same article:

Contaminated water inside Unit 2 has tested at radiation levels some 100,000 times normal amounts, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.

Workers also discovered radioactive water in the deep trenches outside three units, with the airborne radiation levels outside Unit 2 exceeding 1,000 millisieverts per hour — more than four times the amount that the government considers safe for workers, TEPCO said Monday.

But wait!  There's more!:

New readings show contamination in the ocean has spread about a mile (1.6 kilometers) farther north of the nuclear site than before. Radioactive iodine-131 was discovered just offshore from Unit 5 and Unit 6 at a level 1,150 times higher than normal, Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, told reporters.

Not finished there, there's also this:  "TEPCO officials said Sunday that radiation in leaking water in Unit 2 was 10 million times above normal..."

Nice, huh?

Adding to the Japanese troubles was another  6.5 earthquake 

off the battered coast of Miyagi prefecture in the northeast.

Those poor people.

Meanwhile, from the "authorities" here in the States who have said we "have nothing to be concerned about regarding radiation coming over here, there's this from the Boston Globe (the one in MASSACHUSETTS.  yeah, THAT one, on the EAST COAST of the US):

Elevated radiation found in rainwater

Low levels of radioactive iodine linked to the nuclear disaster in Japan were detected in a sample of rainwater in Massachusetts, state health officials announced yesterday. 

I'm not suggesting we--any of us--freak out about this or that anyone panic or over-react and I understand they need to keep the populations calm but I'm just saying this whole mess isn't done and it's bigger than anyone seems to be have reported or is reporting.

Nuclear power, for the long range, especially compared to clean, renewable energy sources, has far too many additional costs, like these, above, for us to pursue it any further.

Nuclear power should now be considered--officially--"old technology" that didn't pan out.

Try to have a great week, y'all.

Links:   http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110328/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_earthquake

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/03/28/state_steps_up_monitoring_after_radioactivity_found_in_rainwater/

Next up from Japan

Radiation leaked into sea from damaged nuclear plant

We were warned, long ago, way back in the 50's this would happen but would we listen?

Noooooo.

Link to original post:  http://www.americablog.com/2011/03/radiation-leaked-into-sea-from-damaged.html

Slate magazine is asking the right questions

From Slate today:

Nuclear's Age

How do inspectors ensure the safety of older nuclear reactors?

Good idea.

I think now is a great time to ask, personally.

Link to original story:  http://www.slate.com/id/2289016/?from=rss

Big week coming up

To begin, North Korea gave me quite an unappreciated birthday present, apparently, with the annonuncement that they detonated an underground nuclear blast in a test yesterday.

Yikes.

Then, today, two more missile tests.

It will be a big week regarding North Korea, then, and how the West is to respond to them.

Locally, we hope to find out the status of the Mayor Mark Funkhouser recall. Reputedly, 7,000 more signatures were turned in yesterday, on top of a vefified 13,000 earlier turned in and we only need 17,000 to get the vote going, hopefully this Fall.

Stay tuned.

California's courts are to respond to the Constitutionality of Prop. 8 today, I believe. Prop 8 was their legislation against same-sex marriages in the state, of course.

And finally--at least for this report--President Obama is said to be ready to announce his selection for the Supreme Court vacancy. That should be worth a great deal of talking and writing this week, once that's told.

So hang on to your seats. It's going to be a bumpy night.