They work without power, crawling through the rubble and remains of the 6 nuclear power reactors in teams of two. They can only work for minutes at a time due to the high levels of radiation. They have only one goal in mind - to try to cool the reactor cores and the spent fuel rods sitting in holding pools. This is their mission and reason d'etre.
The situation is dire, but needs some perspective. Since the dawn of nuclear power, far more people have died finding and extracting fossil fuel to create electricity each year than all - read THREE - nuclear accidents which have occurred worldwide in history. To compare Fukushima to Chernobyl is uneducated folly and the outcome from Fukushima - regardless of what it may be, will not have the same consequences. Not only are the reactors of different designs (the Chernobyl reactor did not have a containment vessel for example), but the cause and effect is 180 degrees apart. An earthquake caused one - ineptness caused the other. Regardless, for the last quarter century atomic power has provided almost unlimited electricity while the impact on global human health has been miniscule.
There is no question that there will be fallout from the fallout and many people will suffer and some will die as a result. But to suggest that this incident should be the end of nuclear produced electricity is nothing more than media driven nonsense.
So sleep well hand wringers and "chicken littles" of the world and take your iodine pills. The real tragedy is the widespread damage caused by the tsunami - not the Fukushima reactors.
And the REAL martyrs, are the Fukushima 50.
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| Reactors 1-4 Right to Left Click to Enlarge |
©Sharky&Sharky
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