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Who said Obama had been making mistakes? Not me as it looks like he knows exactly whom to hire (Hint - That would be all the extremely well-regarded financial guys in his administration from JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, etc.) and whom to ignore (US). Lots of interesting news items to be found on the 'net!
JPMorgan's Net Jumps 67 pct on Investment Banking
Goldman Sachs Posts Record Profit, Beating Estimates
Morgan Stanley Quarterly Profit Up 88%
A Skeptical Glenn Greenwald on Obama's Budget Speech
Kucinich: Obama Admin Transferring Wealth to the Few Pity the Poor Tea Partier!
Spillionaires: Profiteering in the Wake of the Gulf Oil Spill
Why the United States Is Destroying Its Education System
Fukushima Gets Upgraded to Chernobyl-Level Emergency
Our good friend at Dangerous Creation gives us the facts (and we certainly don't know everything yet as the nuclear industry is still trying mightily to pretend that nuclear power is just as safe as it was before the catastrophe in Fukushima - even in Japan!):
Fukushima: It’s Not Finished With Us Yet!
Friends, according to the report . . . on Reuters and other sources, the situation in Japan goes from bad to worse.
There is talk now of radiation spreading around the world, of pregnant women being advised not to eat large leaf vegetables and to keep their children inside.
It is obvious that Japan has not been honest with the world. They have dragged their feet, putting their economic interests ahead of the truth. Of course, every nation in the world does that. It’s one of the foundation stones of capitalism: lie to protect profits.
Other foundation stones are: take risks if the profits are high; don’t worry about environmental damage; get in, make lots of money then get out before the authorities catch up with you, etc.
When you think of the number of nuclear reactors built in earthquake prone areas, the situation is dire. The question could be asked: why would anyone in their right mind build a reactor in such an area?
Please read the foundation stones of capitalism again.
What will happen in Fukushima? How will it affect the world? No one knows. “Fukushima Daiichi operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. warned Tuesday that since the Fukushima Daiichi plant is still releasing radioactive materials, the total level of radiation released could eventually exceed that of Chernobyl,” a spokesman said. That’s reassuring, isn’t it!
Given that we seem to be experiencing an up-tick in earthquakes around the world, how long will it be before another nuclear plant in Japan blows? If my memory serves me correctly, California has three or four reactors and they sit right on top of a fault zone and a major earthquake is expected anytime soon.
Humans are their own worst enemy. Greedy humans are the enemy of us all! Should we forgive them for ‘they know not what they do’?
I think not!
Footage shot in Minamisanriku, a town of about 20,000 more or less erased by the March 11 tsunami. So far only about half of the residents have been found alive. My in-laws live about 30 km inland from here.
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6 comments:
The benefits of safe nuclear power are more than worth an occasional meltdown, Dont'cha know? (wink, wink).
It's estimated atm to cost $45 billion to decommission one nuclear plant. We have hundreds nearing the end of their useful lifespans.
We don't have $trillions to spend on this, so we won't decommission them. If you don't decommission them, then you have to keep them cool and running. Failure to do so, will lead to meltdowns or at best, lead to constant breakdowns and periodic radiation releases.
If we have a breakdown of civilization or that civil war that can come from an economic depression, we could end up with quite a few meltdowns, triggered by human events.
It seems to me that it's very likely that we'll have meltdowns in the continental US. We're becoming to poor and uneducated to maintain these expensive complex systems. And you can't just turn them off and walk away.
Becoming?
Many people have long maintained that paying minimum wage people to do the simpler jobs there are what has led to many of the past nuclear incidents.
And the problem right now is that not only do they not have the money to decommission all of the old ones soon, but they are constantly marketing the benefits of building more - and getting ready to do so in the wake of all the deregulation and public acquiescence if not acceptance of paying all costs of failure.
Brrrrr.
Thanks for commenting.
Love your blog!
S
P.S. I worked at Westinghouse for 14 years before it decided to pre-Enron its employees, go away for a few years, and come back as a full-fledged nuclear company.
Of course, it did still have all that Savannah River nuclear waste to get rid of (or ignore) - but my guess is that's it now a plus in its marketing!
I thank God they decommissioned the Trojan Nuclear plant near Portland a few years back. I even got to go on site while they were containing the asbestos used to wrap the cooling pipes in the tower.
Scary stuff.
I was alive when they built it and damn glad to see it go.
Last I heard, the spent rods were still in a pool with nothing but a tin roof covering them.
Of course, the government is going to lie to everyone about what is going on in a situation like this, they are incompetant and hate having that spot lighted to the whole world.
Move on, nothing to see here, like a radiation meter being pegged and nuclear radiation being spewed into the sea and the atmosphere TO SHARE WITH THE ENTIRE WORLD.
So, they can decommission a power plant! Will wonders never cease.
Of course, they don't want to.
Because business has learned that they don't need to give up a cent for safety or any other "consumerist" consideration.
It's just not cost effective!!!!
(Did you think we needed their support? We own their representatives!)
Thanks for the history, sweetheart.
It's sobering (like I needed to sober up?).
And about that nuclear waste streaming our way?
Not to worry, folks. It'll be years before you feel its effects!!!
Brrrrrr.
Eh-the USSR collapsed with no nuke disasters. They got theirs over with early.
And we will, absolutely, collapse. I don't think there's a way to avoid it now. I'd say we have 5 years, tops.
Five?
I was just hoping for three.
And expecting less than two.
But where can we go to be safe from the fallout?
The moon?
No wonder the rich guys have been buying rocket rides for the last decade.
Love ya!
S
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