End of World is Predicted
People such as Arnie Gundersen were disappointed that the world has not ended due to the melt-downs of Fukushima Daiichi. Their predictions were wrong, but they will never admit that. Instead, they have made a set of new predictions: the world will end because of Spent Fuel Pool number 4 at Fukushima Daiichi. As a matter of fact, Gundersen predicts that the spent fuel pool could "certainly destroy Japan as a functioning country" and he recommended that we all "move south of the equator if that ever happened."
When your doomsday predictions don't come true, make more! Make them worse!
The Bloggers Strike Back
Because of these predictions, I urge everyone to read the blogs in the 105th Carnival. Groups of bloggers with nuclear expertise answer these doomsday assertions, with facts, videos, pictures, calculations. We worked together and in tandem, and Dan put it all together beautifully at the Carnival.
The most comprehensive post was by William Davis. He usually blogs at Atomic Power Review, but he wrote Spent Fuel at Fukushima Daiichi safer than asserted for ANS Nuclear Cafe. That was actually a collaborative effort between Davis and a group of bloggers. It was followed by more blogs on the subject: NEI Nuclear Notes on Setting the Record Straight, Rod Adams at Atomic Insights on Debunking the Fukushima Spent Fuel Fable, Steve Skutnik at Neutron Economy on TEPCO's Triage at Unit 4. This set of posts is honest and informative about the spent fuel pools: experts, expert opinions, reasoned arguments.
More than Fukushima
In the book and movie On The Beach, everyone moves to the Southern Hemisphere. They die anyway of radiation poisoning. In the first part of the Carnival, the bloggers debunk statements of people who spend too much time watching that movie.
However, the Fukushima fuel pool is not the only item of interest in the nuclear world. The Carnival includes posts by Brian Wang at Next Big Future on reactor starts and restarts for 2012, and on uranium production worldwide. The Carnival includes Howard Shaffer's guest post on attending an NRC meeting for Vermont Yankee, and Robert Hayes at the S and T blog about using radiation for food safety.
Come to the Carnival! Bloggers disprove and debunk the fuel pool scare stories. We don't have to move to Australia! This blogger work is important. Read it!
2 comments:
A good theme for the Nuclear Assembly is NEVER let an allegation by Arnie and his gang go unrebuked before the media! I hope they seriously second motions for a nuclear truth squad to rebut anti-nukers AND challenge the media for its pampering and feeding of them!
Re: On The Beach
Always felt that was a lame flick, portraying that Aussies would just roll over and die without a struggle when they'd many months to at least blast a few Ark-caverns and even seal-up their underground city infrastructure or even buildings moon-base style and juice them up with some nukes (even hook up the sub's) to ride out that mythical radioactive cloud, especially since price was no object! I think that clueless-gutless mentality of the population was a good part of the fear in that film, that things are so seemingly hopeless that you don't even at least try to fight to survive.
James Greenidge
Queens NY
On the Beach was the worst book Nevil Shute wrote. I am planning to give short-course at ILEAD next winter on two of his excellent books, which have good stories about engineering and engineering decisions: No HIghway and Slide Rule (his autobiography).
There's always a bit of a question in the nuclear community about answering allegations. I think they should be answered, but I have seen reasonable people say we shouldn't spend all our time being reactive and playing whack-a-mole. It's a balance.
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