Managing Public Perceptions of Fukushima: First Emergency Response of the Nuclear Complex
Dr. Robert Jacobs,
After the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki the world became aware that exposure to radiation could cause sickness and death. However, the United States government was able to limit this awareness through the careful managing of public perceptions. It was the prompt burst of gamma radiation from the detonation of a nuclear weapon that caused the radiation sickness among the hibakusha, the survivors of the nuclear attacks claimed US experts. This prompt burst lasted only seconds following the moment of detonation. The fact that people continued to live in Hiroshima & Nagasaki after the attacks seemed to reinforce this belief. The truth is that even before these attacks, after the Trinity Test in July 1945 Manhattan Project employees had traced the deposit of downwind radioactive fallout in the area surrounding the test site. Cardboard boxes made from strawboard from a field over 1,000 miles away in Illinois that had been contaminated with fallout from the Trinity Test had blurred film later packed in the boxes by the Eastman Kodak company.1
Rongelapese (Marshall Islands) child exposed to radiation from the Bravo Test
The US managed to keep awareness of downwind fallout relatively secret for almost ten years. That ended with the Bravo Test at Bikini Atoll in 1954. Bravo tested the first deliverable H-bomb and produced such an immense amount of downwind radioactive fallout that its presence could not be managed or denied.2 That doesn’t mean the US did not work feverishly to both manage and deny awareness of fallout. The Bravo cloud engulfed hundreds of fishing boats located outside of the protective exclusionary zone, but one boat in particular, the Lucky Dragon #5 (the Daigo Fukuryu Maru) would be so contaminated that it became impossible for the US to control perceptions of what had happened to the boat and crew. Thirteen days after the Bravo test the boat pulled into port in Yaizu, Japan with the entire crew suffering from radiation sickness, one of whom would die weeks later from his exposure. Until that day the US had succeeded in keeping a very tight lid on awareness of the radiation disaster, even though whole populations of downwind atolls in the Marshall Islands had all been exposed and evacuated (many military personnel were also exposed). The simple fact of the contaminated and sick crew of the Lucky Dragon brought awareness of what had happened in the Marshall Islands to the world’s attention.
Responding immediately, and strictly focused on containing information and awareness, the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) feverishly denied the obvious. AEC Chairman Lewis Strauss first claimed that the crew was sick because of a “chemical” reaction of undersea coral in the explosion and not exposure to radioactivity. As the wonderful historian of worldwide antinuclear movements Lawrence Wittner reports:
The chair of the AEC, Lewis Strauss, publicly declared that the Marshall Islanders were “well and happy.” The Japanese fishermen, he conceded, had experienced a few minor problems; but, in any case, he stated falsely, they “must have been well within the danger area.” Privately, he was more caustic. The Lucky Dragon, he told the White House press secretary, was really a “Red spy outfit,” a component of a “Russian espionage system.” At the request of Strauss, the CIA investigated this possibility and categorically denied it. Nonetheless, Strauss continued to maintain that the irradiation of the Lucky Dragon ‘was no accident,’ for the captain of the vessel must have been “in the employ of the Russians.” He also told authors to ignore the contention of the “propagandists” that a crew member of the vessel had died of radiation exposure.3
LIVE WEBCAST: Nuclear Free Planet Symposium on “The Medical and Ecological Consequences of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident,” March 11-12, 2013
LIVE WEBCAST: Nuclear Free Planet Symposium on “The Medical and Ecological Consequences of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident,” March 11-12, 2013
On the second anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, Dr. Helen Caldicott is hosting a two day symposium on “The Medical and Environmental Consequence. The symposium will be Live Webcast.
For the schedule of presentations go Nuclear Free Planet.
On March 11 and 12 GO TO LIVE WEBCAST PORTAL.
Videos – Anti nuclear power rally Ottawa Canada
Published on 9 Mar 2013
ottawa anti nuclear rally march 9,2013
Video of Fukushima London anti nuclear demonstration 9th March 2013
Published on 10 Mar 2013
This video was filmed by Colin Clayton and is for educational and charitable purposes only.. please feel free to share..
Pictures of the London demonstration and march against Nuclear – 9 March 2013
Some photos of the event for you to share and enjoy…
more pictures here
Budapest, Hungary … mourns for the Japanese disaster victims – 10 March 2013
To follow Germany (will stop the activity of nuclear reactors in the country until 2022) and dismantle all nuclear reactors in the world, before the world will fall apart.
Greenpeace activists light candles to mourn victims of the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami in downtown Bucharest March 10, 2013, a day before the second-year anniversary of the disaster that killed thousands and set off a nuclear crisis. REUTERS/Bogdan Cristel
h/t
Fukushima Rad News 3/10/13: Fukushima Forest Cesium 750,000 bq/kg;World Wide Anti-Nuke Protests
Published on 10 Mar 2013
Experts cast doubt on reactor cooling strategy
NHK has found there is a possibility that more than half of the water injected into a reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant failed to reach its destination.
In the severe accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, 3 reactors melted down, releasing a huge amount of radioactive materials.
Forgotten Fukushima – Japan Two Years After the Daiichi Accident
Published on 10 Mar 2013
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Dr. Caldicott details the impressive credentials of the international scientists who will be presenting their evidence at an important Scientific Symposium at the The New York Academy of Medicine in New York City. Entitled: the Medical and Ecological Consequences of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident, the symposium is being held on March 11th and 12th on the second anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi accident. For details of the symposium, sponsored by the Helen Caldicott Foundation, please visit http://www.nuclearfreeplanet.org/symp….
Pt2
Follow the Money ! A nuclear gravy train! Fairewinds exclusive!
Published on 10 Mar 2013
http://fairewinds.org
http://fairewinds.org/content/follow-…
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This week’s show is all about money. We look at how some utility owned U.S. nuclear power plants continue to drain the public’s pocketbook, sometimes to the tune of fifty million dollars a month, without generating a single watt of electricity.
Pt 2
Are Whistleblowers Being Protected By The NRC? … Not Really!
Published on 10 Mar 2013
http://fairewinds.org
http://fairewinds.org/content/are-whi…
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Fairewinds Chief Engineer Arnie Gundersen and special guest David Lochbaum, the Director of Nuclear Safety for the Union of Concerned Scientists, compare experiences about how nuclear whistleblowers are NOT protected by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission if they bring safety concerns forward. They will also discuss examples citing instances of the NRC failing to support the legitimate concerns of whistleblowers in the nuclear industry, including inside the NRC itself.
Pt 2
Not Returning to Normal -Fukushima update Fairewinds
Published on 10 Mar 2013
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What Is Life Like In Northeastern Japan After the Fukushima Daiichi Disaster? Arnie and Kevin talk with Fairewinds board member, Chiho Kaneko, to discuss her recent trip to northeastern Japan. Ms. Kaneko discusses the difficulties of trying to live there surrounded by radioactive contamination, and the psychological pressure people experience as the try to reestablish their lives after the accident.
Pt 2
Meditations by candlelight for Fukushima
http://www.acandleforfukushima.com/
On the eve of the second anniversary of the nuclear accident we welcome an invitation from the Women from Fukushima ‘No more Nuclear Power’ group and we invite you to take part in a symbolic action to show solidarity with them.
Here is an extract from their invitation:
‘The enormity of the loss, of the damage caused by the nuclear accident, is truly infinite.
No declaration by the government that the “alarm has ceased”, nor its promise that our nuclear energy is “the safest in the world” can ever give us back the lives that have been lost, the families that have been split up, the friends that have been torn away from us, the loss of our houses, jobs and interior calm, or our beloved Fukushima.
That is why we shout out “NO” to the new government, who is on the verge of restoring the nuclear régime that existed before the tragedy, showing that they have learned nothing from Fukushima.
That is why we shall offer up prayers for the lives that have been sacrificed and those still in peril. During this period of recollection, which can bring us all together, we shall promise to do something concrete, within our reach, even the smallest thing, to bring about a change.
We hope that through our meditations by candlelight a new movement will spring from all the ideas of how we can change this society.’
Japanese campaign website: http://candle311.blogspot.it
“No more Nuclear Power” 100 Women from Fukushima. A sit-in Action in Tokyo.
These brave women in action in October 2011
Uploaded on 26 Oct 2011
“No more Nuclear Power”
“Evacuate children living in contaminated areas”
100 women from Fukushima will be sitting in front of Agency of Ministry and Trade located in Tokyo, giving a peaceful appeal for three days. Another 100 from all areas in Japan will be sitting from 10/30-11/5.
Check out the english translation of a touching speech given by a woman from Fukushima in the protest held on 9/19.
http://iwakamiyasumi.com/archives/125…
Ustream broadcast by Independent Web Journal (Tokyo)
Breaking! Sen. Boxer Believes that San Onofre Knew About Problems Years Earlier
Published on 10 Mar 2013
http://fairewinds.org
http://fairewinds.org/content/sen-box…
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In this special edition, Fairewinds analyzes a letter from Senator Boxer and Representative Markey that indicates that the problems at San Onofre were known to its owner, Southern California Edison, years before the steam generators were installed and rapidly failed. This statement by Boxer and Markey supports Fairewinds analysis of one year ago that indicates Edison took shortcuts to avoid public participation in a license amendment for San Onofre.
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Anyone coming to this link look for the Ottawa Demonstration please follow this link as wordpress has glitched again.. sorry!
https://nuclear-news.net/2013/03/11/videos-anti-nuclear-power-rally-ottawa-canada/
Fairwinds energy website attacked and John Large in the UK was hacked too!
Nuke Industry Double Standards?
Published on 10 Mar 2013
http://fairewinds.org
http://fairewinds.org/content/nuke-in…
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Fairewinds Kevin Hurley, Maggie Gundersen, and Arnie Gundersen share this podcast. Kevin and Maggie discuss the recent internet attack against the Fairewinds website. Arnie, Maggie and Kevin discuss the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s double standard of allowing Nuclear Senior managers off the hook for significant violations while strongly reprimanding, firing, or filing criminal charges against its technicians and engineers. Lastly, Arnie Gundersen then discusses saltwater intrusions and what that means for Japan’s Hamaoka nuclear plant and how nuke speak is used to confuse the general public and press.
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Senate Banking Committee Hearing – Bank Money Laundering – OT but blimey!!
Published on 7 Mar 2013
http://warren.senate.gov
Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Q&A at the March 7, 2013 Banking Committee hearing entitled “Patterns of Abuse: Assessing Bank Secrecy Act Compliance and Enforcement.” Witnesses were: David Cohen, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, United States Department of the Treasury; Thomas Curry, Comptroller, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; and Jerome H. Powell, Governor, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
The worlds nuclear waste disposal to be in Australia?
- Broadcast:
- Sunday 10 March 2013 7:45AM (view full episode)
Terry Krieg from Port Lincoln in South Australia is a retired geology and geography teacher and a member of the Australian Nuclear Forum. He suggests that there are enormous environmental and economic opportunities for Australia in burying and removing the world’s nuclear waste from the environment forever and argues that this can be done safely.
1 This Month
Protect Sazan Island from the Trump family! https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/protect_sazan_island_from_the_trump_family_loc/?bqFCVab&v=174511&cl=22707147157&_checksum=5e9dde668860e8231c33699735e16a1fbf22ab2cb01da50c999fe8732b9775ef&utm_source=email&utm_medium=blast_email&utm_campaign=174511
Cuba Is Not a Failed State – It Is a Besieged State
PETITION: “Global Appeal to Endorse Palestinian Right of Return of Refugees”
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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