I just read an article stating that the Fukushima nuclear plant which experienced a meltdown six years ago is now safe for people to live near. I read another article which stated radiation near the plant was over a four hundred times the dose a human could endure. It’s hard to tell which article is correct and all we have to go by is past experience, unless we could get a firsthand report from somebody with instruments who was near the plant. If we look at Chernobyl which melted down many years before Fukushima we see it is still not safe to live there and this plant was entombed in concrete. This would lead one to think the reports about the area being safe to live in don’t seem to be credible. According to Tokyo Electric company they state they sent a robot with instruments to measure unit #1, a unit which experienced a meltdown and they claim the readings were 7.8 sieverts per hour on the metal stage above the water pool where the workers would be and at the bottom of the pool the readings were only 1.5 sieverts per hour. First let me explain what the measurement of sievert means. This measurement was created to measure three things which are the equivalent dose of radiation, the effective dose of radiation and the committed dose of radiation. This measurement is usually not used to measure high doses of radiation that produce deterministic effects. It is also important to note not only was Unit #1 radioactive, but so was at least one or more other units. At 0.5 sieverts humans are in danger of developing cancer. At 0.5 to 1.0 sieverts humans are exposed to mild radiation sickness. At 1 to 2 sieverts there is light radiation poisoning and a 10% risk of death after thirty days. At 2 to 3 sieverts we get severe radiation and have a 35% risk of death after thirty days. At 3 to 4 sieverts severe radiation poisoning will occur and humans will have a 50% chance of death in thirty days. At 4 to 6 sieverts we get acute radiation poisoning and will have a 60% chance of dying thirty days. At 6 sieverts it is pretty much game over for everyone. I didn’t even mention the fact at these different levels terrible things happen to one’s body.

On February 3rd, 2017 the Guardian online ran a story about the Fukushima electric plant and they stated the radiation inside the plant was at the highest level since the 2011 meltdown. They went on to say this was not a single meltdown, but a triple one. Are we to believe the Tokyo Electric Company who took their measurements only a month after the article was written? It seems something is wrong, either the newspaper got completely wrong readings, or the Japan Electric Company is trying to paint a rosy picture of the status the plant. I know I wouldn’t want to move men into this plant and I really don’t think anybody else would. People want this plant decommissioned and you really can’t blame them. The readings were called by experts as being unimaginable and far higher than the record of 73 sieverts which was detected by sensor in 2012. A hole was formed in the grading beneath one of the reactor’s vessels and it is thought fuel may have melted and then penetrated the vessel. Experts have said even if they were off in their measurements by a factor of three, the readings are so high it still wouldn’t matter to humans very much, because they couldn’t inhabit the area. Tokyo Electric is working with other companies to remove the melted fuel rods. Never in the history of atomic energy has a challenge like this been seen.

When Chernobyl melted down the radiation was so powerful two workers died that night from radiation poisoning. By the time a few weeks had passed twenty eight other workers had died. Actually there is some good news about the Chernobyl disaster and that is it has been reported  aside from increased thyroid cancers, the Chernobyl meltdown doesn’t seem to have affected the general public. I think one of the big words being used here is “seem”. One has to wonder what genetic damage could have been done to humans which didn’t manifest itself in cancer, but will affect future generations. When Chernobyl blew we were only talking about reactor #3. This is one reactor versus the three at Fukushima. I’m telling you this, because I want to get this into perspective. The Fukushima meltdown was far worse than the meltdown at Chernobyl. I am not even talking about the fact the electric generating facility was on the island of Japan which is very crowded, but I am talking about the fact so many more reactors melted and it is said that a fourth reactor was compromised even though it didn’t melt. The plant contained an estimated 1,850 tons of nuclear material. It is ironic in a way the only country which ever suffered from nuclear bombs had to suffer from a nuclear plant meltdown.

So what caused the Fukushima plant to have such a disastrous accident? When the plant was built, sea walls were constructed but they were not high enough when a giant tsunami hit the coast. The plant had already been in operation for forty years and therefore the plan executives never believed the sea walls could be breached. One has to wonder why radiation levels inside the plant would increase. Experts say just because they are so high it might only be in the area where they were measured, because this area was never measured for radiation before. I can’t help but think we are hearing more excuses for a very dangerous situation. If fuel rods have melted through the bottom of the containment vessel this means they are contaminating the soil and possibly any ground water which might be under there.

When we talk about Fukushima we are possibly talking about one of the most dangerous situations that exist in the world right now. It is not only dangerous to the Japanese people, it is dangerous to the whole world, because all that radiation is leaking out into the ocean and contaminating the life in it. Winds are carrying the radiation across the world. This is truly an international problem and not just a local one. Just because it doesn’t get mentioned much anymore does not mean it has gone away.