Carnival of Nuclear Energy 107

by

The Carnival of Nuclear Energy 107 is up at Idaho Samizdat

Atomic Insights – Exaggerated myths about nuclear accidents CAUSE negative health effects.

A video was produced by the World Nuclear Association (WNA). It shows that the predicted health consequences of nuclear accidents are often orders of magnitude greater than the actual, measured health consequences of the accidents that have occurred. Instead of the “worst case scenarios” of hundreds of thousands to millions of people getting sick and dying, Chernobyl produced a few dozen casualties, a few thousand illnesses, and few, if any, additional long-term radiation related illnesses.

Fukushima will result in no casualties and no long term radiation related illnesses, because the key mistakes that were made in the initial response to the accident at Chernobyl were not repeated. Worker doses at Fukushima were controlled so that no one was exposed to dangerous radiation doses. The public was sufficiently informed about radiation releases so that no one drank milk that was contaminated by I-131.

Unfortunately, the most important lesson from 25 years worth of intense international study of the Chernobyl accident has not been learned. That accident had very real social, economic and health consequences. Those completely avoidable consequences were due to the way that governments, the antinuclear movement, and the media chose to react.

Government edicts led to permanent relocation and the associated stress and economic disruption. The antinuclear movement created tales of hundreds of thousands of deaths and promoted those stories relentlessly (and continues to do so). Sensational media reports of catastrophic predictions were never followed with calm, reasoned reporting of the actual results.

As a result of those actions, people have continued to live in fear of a boogyman that has never arrived. People who have been repeatedly told that they are condemned to an early death often make choices like smoking, excessive drinking and reckless behavior that allow the predictions of illness and early death to become self-fulfilling.

NEI Nuclear Notes debunked the tuna radiation scare. – The report by the National Academy of Sciences did not conclude that there was any food safety or public health concern related to radiation from tuna of any kind. The trace amount of radiation found in the tuna is less than radiation that is found naturally in the Pacific Ocean from Potassium 40.

According to Dr. Robert Emery of the University of Texas Health Science Center, a person would have to eat 2.5 to 4 tons of Blue Fin in a year to ingest enough cesium to cause a health problem.

Nextbigfuture – Japan appears to be about 3 to 4 weeks away from having the Oi nuclear reactors started. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will give a formal order to restart two nuclear reactors at the Oi plant in western Japan next week. It would then take two or three weeks to get each one up and running. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told reporters that it was necessary to restart idled nuclear reactors whose safety has been confirmed, adding the central government was winning understanding from local authorities.

Nextbigfuture – China has approved a new nuclear safety plan and appears they will have a new 70GW target for 2020 and they should approve the restarting of new reactor approvals and construction.

If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks

Carnival of Nuclear Energy 107

by

The Carnival of Nuclear Energy 107 is up at Idaho Samizdat

Atomic Insights – Exaggerated myths about nuclear accidents CAUSE negative health effects.

A video was produced by the World Nuclear Association (WNA). It shows that the predicted health consequences of nuclear accidents are often orders of magnitude greater than the actual, measured health consequences of the accidents that have occurred. Instead of the “worst case scenarios” of hundreds of thousands to millions of people getting sick and dying, Chernobyl produced a few dozen casualties, a few thousand illnesses, and few, if any, additional long-term radiation related illnesses.

Fukushima will result in no casualties and no long term radiation related illnesses, because the key mistakes that were made in the initial response to the accident at Chernobyl were not repeated. Worker doses at Fukushima were controlled so that no one was exposed to dangerous radiation doses. The public was sufficiently informed about radiation releases so that no one drank milk that was contaminated by I-131.

Unfortunately, the most important lesson from 25 years worth of intense international study of the Chernobyl accident has not been learned. That accident had very real social, economic and health consequences. Those completely avoidable consequences were due to the way that governments, the antinuclear movement, and the media chose to react.

Government edicts led to permanent relocation and the associated stress and economic disruption. The antinuclear movement created tales of hundreds of thousands of deaths and promoted those stories relentlessly (and continues to do so). Sensational media reports of catastrophic predictions were never followed with calm, reasoned reporting of the actual results.

As a result of those actions, people have continued to live in fear of a boogyman that has never arrived. People who have been repeatedly told that they are condemned to an early death often make choices like smoking, excessive drinking and reckless behavior that allow the predictions of illness and early death to become self-fulfilling.

NEI Nuclear Notes debunked the tuna radiation scare. – The report by the National Academy of Sciences did not conclude that there was any food safety or public health concern related to radiation from tuna of any kind. The trace amount of radiation found in the tuna is less than radiation that is found naturally in the Pacific Ocean from Potassium 40.

According to Dr. Robert Emery of the University of Texas Health Science Center, a person would have to eat 2.5 to 4 tons of Blue Fin in a year to ingest enough cesium to cause a health problem.

Nextbigfuture – Japan appears to be about 3 to 4 weeks away from having the Oi nuclear reactors started. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will give a formal order to restart two nuclear reactors at the Oi plant in western Japan next week. It would then take two or three weeks to get each one up and running. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told reporters that it was necessary to restart idled nuclear reactors whose safety has been confirmed, adding the central government was winning understanding from local authorities.

Nextbigfuture – China has approved a new nuclear safety plan and appears they will have a new 70GW target for 2020 and they should approve the restarting of new reactor approvals and construction.

If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks