{"id":67875,"date":"2015-12-21T12:00:59","date_gmt":"2015-12-21T12:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=67875"},"modified":"2015-12-21T12:29:04","modified_gmt":"2015-12-21T12:29:04","slug":"fukushima-amplifies-murphys-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2015\/12\/fukushima-amplifies-murphys-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Fukushima Amplifies Murphy\u2019s Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"fukushima2-510x333<\/a><\/p>\n

14 Dec 2015 – <\/em>Murphy\u2019s Law has found a permanent home in Fukushima: \u201cAnything that can go wrong will go wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

For instance, only recently, radioactive cesium in tunnels at Fukushima suddenly spiked by more than 4,000 times similar measurements from one year ago. This spooky\/huge spike in radiation levels hit 482,000 Becquerels per liter. TEPCO intends to investigate the reason behind the enormous anomalous increase, Radiation Spikes in Fukushima Underground Ducts<\/em>, NHK World, Dec. 9, 2015. Over the course of a year, 4,000 times anything probably is not good.<\/p>\n

Not only that but the barrier constructed at the Fukushima nuclear power plant to hopefully prevent contaminated water from leaking into the ocean is tilting and has developed a crack about 0.3 miles in length along its base. The wall is 0.5 miles long and 98 feet below ground.<\/p>\n

An ocean barrier, indeed: \u201cHigher levels of radiation from Japan\u2019s 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident are showing up in the ocean off the west coast of North America, scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution reported,\u201d Higher Levels of Fukushima Radiation Detected Off West Coast,<\/em> Statesman Journal, Dec. 3, 2015. Fortunately, so far, the detected levels still remain below U.S. government-established safety limits.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, TEPCO battles one of the most perplexing disasters of all-time with an average number of daily workers more than 7,000. The difficulty of procuring workers at the site is beyond imagination. Homeless people are hired off the streets to do the dangerous decontamination work.<\/p>\n

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics <\/strong><\/p>\n

The situation better get better really soon because the Olympics are scheduled for 2020, which brings to mind perilous lost corium, the sizzling hot melted core in Plant #2, that hopefully, keeping one\u2019s fingers crossed, has not burrowed into the ground, spreading deadly isotopes erratically, ubiquitously throughout. Still, nobody knows where this Missing Corium-Waldo of the Nuclear World is located.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Greenpeace\/Japan accuses the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of downplaying the health risks of the 2011 Fukushima disaster and accuses the agency of acting in concert with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe\u2019s attempts to \u201cnormalize\u201d the disaster, Greenpeace Japan: IAEA Downplays Dangers of Fukushima Disaster<\/em>, Sputnik News, Feb. 9, 2015. Hurry, hurry, the Olympics is coming!<\/p>\n

One clever approach to the problem of too much radiation is to increase the \u201callowable limits\u201d: \u201cThe permissible annual level of radiation exposure has been dangerously heightened in Japan after the March 11th accident. One (1) millisievert (mSv) has been elevated to 20 mSv for residents in affected areas. The government increased the annual limit for nuclear workers\u2019 radiation exposure from 100 mSv to 250 mSv in \u2018emergency situations,\u201d Mitsuhei Murata (Executive Director of Japan Society for Global System and Ethics and former Japanese ambassador to Switzerland) Nuclear Disaster and Global Ethics<\/em>, UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, March 16, 2015.<\/p>\n

When the \u201cpermissible level\u201d of radiation was initially moved higher, the Japan Medical Association stated: \u201cThe scientific basis for choosing the maximum amount of 20 mSv in the band of 1 to 20 mSv is not clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Furthermore, according to Physicians for Social Responsibility, there is no safe level of radiation. Apropos the Fukushima situation: \u201cIt is unconscionable to increase the allowable dose for children to 20 millisieverts (mSv). Twenty mSv exposes an adult to a 1 in 500 risk of getting cancer; this dose for children exposes them to a 1 in 200 risk of getting cancer. And if they are exposed to this dose for two years, the risk is 1 in 100. There is no way that this level of exposure can be considered \u2018safe\u2019 for children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recent studies confirm \u201cexposure to low levels of radiation can cause cancer,\u201d specifically, \u201cNo matter whether people are exposed to protracted low doses or to high and acute does, the observed association between dose and solid cancer risk is similar per unit of radiation dose,\u201d (Source: British Medical Journal, Press Release, Low Doses of Ionizing Radiation Increase Risk of Death from Solid Cancers<\/em>, International Agency for Research on Cancer, WHO, Oct. 21, 2015).<\/p>\n

In sharp contrast to Japan\u2019s position, Chernobyl\u2019s officialdom has a different take on \u201cpermissible annual radiation exposure,\u201d specifically: \u201cThe radiation limit that excluded people from\u00a0living in\u00a0the 30km zone around\u00a0the Chernobyl nuclear plant exclusion zone was set at\u00a05mSV\/year, five years after\u00a0the nuclear accident. Over 100,000 people were evacuated from\u00a0within the zone and will never return,\u201d (Greenpeace Japan). Never ever return!<\/p>\n

Nuclear disasters don\u2019t go away easily. For example, Chernobyl is already facing a brand new crisis. The durability of the original decaying blighted sarcophagus expires within the next 12 months. However, the new replacement sarcophagus, the world\u2019s biggest-ever metallic dome, will not be accomplished in time as they are short of funds (615million EUR).<\/p>\n

In addition to Ukraine\u2019s internal strife with pro-Russian citizens, the country has serious financial difficulties. All of this amounts to one more \u201cspoke in the wheel\u201d against nuclear reactor proliferation (Incidentally, China has 400 reactors on the drawing board). Who knows if and when a crippled reactor ends up in the hands of a financially strapped country? Then what?<\/p>\n

Already, Ukraine has 15 nuclear reactors standing tall, so far, amongst whizzing bullets and powerful rockets.\u00a0Dismally, Ukraine has conceivably become a nuclear holocaust tinderbox in the midst of cannon fire, rumbling tanks, and surface-to-air missiles, for example, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down by a missile, supposedly by accident, on July 17, 2014, all 298 on board died.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, back in Japan, raising the level of permissible annual radiation exposure does not escape international notice. According to Dr. Ian Fairlie, former head of the Secretariat of the UK Government\u2019s CERRIE Committee on Internal Radiation Risks: \u201cThe Japanese government goes so far as\u00a0to increase the public limit for\u00a0radiation in\u00a0Japan from\u00a01 mSv to\u00a020 mSv per year, while its scientists are making efforts to\u00a0convince the International Commission on\u00a0Radiological Protection (ICRP) to\u00a0accept this enormous increase.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, wait a moment; the Olympic Committee has already designated Tokyo 2020. Is it possible the IOC has the cart ahead of the horse, maybe way ahead?<\/p>\n

As for the newly established higher acceptable Japanese limit for radiation: \u201cThis is not only unscientific, it is also unconscionable,\u201d Dr. Fairlie, Unspoken Death Toll of Fukushima: Nuclear Disaster Killing Japanese Slowly, <\/em>Sputnik International, Aug. 8, 2015. After all, on a factual basis, \u201cunscientific and unconscionable\u201d are strong indictments.<\/p>\n

Yet, the Olympic committee has already approved Tokyo 2020, and people from around the world will be making plans to attend. Withal, if the Olympic Committee is okay with Japan\u2019s capricious radiation conditions, then shouldn\u2019t everybody else be okay with it too? Well\u2026.<\/p>\n

All of which brings to mind: If Fukushima\u2019s a canary in the mineshaft that exposes nuclear power\u2019s hidden dirty underbelly, meaning, once things go wrong they really go wrong, adhering to Murphy\u2019s Law, then what of the potential consequences of big ole nuke plants in war zones? How would Murphy\u2019s Law apply in a war zone? The most comfortable answer is: Don\u2019t even think about it.<\/p>\n

Still, the world\u2019s 430 nuclear reactors are \u201cbig fat sitting ducks.\u201d According to former ambassador Murata, nuclear reactors are \u201cthe world\u2019s most serious security problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus, Fukushima may be more than the poster child of nuclear power\u2019s fragility vis a vis extreme forces of nature; it\u2019s also a surrogate poster child for lurking dangers behind and within terrorism and within war zones when \u201canything that can go wrong will go wrong,\u201d for example, a downed airliner over Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Nuclear Reactors are as Dangerous as Nuclear Weapons (Murata) <\/strong><\/p>\n

Rockets have been fired at nuclear facilities in Israel. \u201cHamas claimed responsibility for the rockets, stating that it had been attempting to hit the nuclear reactor. Militants from Hamas\u2019s Qassam Brigades said they had launched long-range M-75 rockets towards Dimona\u201d (The Jerusalem Post, July 9, 2014).<\/p>\n

As mentioned earlier, Ukraine is home to 15 nuclear reactors in the midst of a war zone. What if a missile accidentally, or purposefully, hits a nuclear reactor? Does Fukushima provide any clues as to the consequences of such a disaster?<\/p>\n

Assuming Fukushima is truly a harbinger of how remarkably well nuclear disasters harmonize with, in fact, cohere to Murphy\u2019s Law, it probably implies that \u201call bets are off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Postscript: \u201cThe future of the Olympic Games is at stake. It is as a believer in the spirit of the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement that I am pleading for an honorable retreat, and this, in order for Japan to devote maximum efforts to controlling the Fukushima crisis,\u201d Mitsuhei Murata, Former Japanese Ambassador to Switzerland and Executive Director, Japan Society for Global System and Ethics, Tokyo, October 28, 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n

_____________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

Robert Hunziker <\/em>lives in\u00a0Los Angeles and can be reached at \u00a0roberthunziker@icloud.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 counterpunch.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Murphy\u2019s Law has found a permanent home in Fukushima: \u201cAnything that can go wrong will go wrong.\u201d Why nuke plants are as dangerous as nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67875\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}