This year marks two milestone anniversaries in the long history of nuclear tragedy. Unlike all other kinds of disasters, where, after fires are put out, rubble cleared, and bodies buried, nuclear disasters continue to âkeep on givingâ long after those activities are completed. As one Russian doctor put it at a conference for the 20th anniversary of Chornobyl, "The accident is over. The catastrophe is just beginning." Such is the case with both Chornobyl and Fukushima. Both stand as stark reminders of the extraordinary downsides to the Nuclear Age, and offer lessons we ignore at our peril.
Lucas Hixson, a radiation monitoring technician with Enformable Environmental Services, reports on his recent 10 day fact finding trip to "The Zone" where he trained with and worked along side the cleanup workers who, 30 years later, are still working to contain the radioactive rubble from spreading radiation further off site.
The crippled, and now shut down nuclear power station, is the site of a huge construction project where the worlds largest movable arched building is being assembled prior to placement over the failing "sarcophagus"; radiation levels in some locations are still high enough to cause premature failure of structural materials. He tells the story of what lead up to the disaster; bureaucratic pressure to run a "safety" test and a failure to communicate to operators a weakness in control rod design, and the sacrifice of the Soviet workers who gave their lives and health to extinguish the raging fires that spread radiation across Europe and the Northern Hemisphere.
Dave Kraft - Nuclear Energy Information Service - http://www.neis.org Department of International Studies, DePaul University
NEIS was founded in 1981 to provide the public with credible information on the hazards of nuclear power, waste, and radiation; and information about the viable energy alternatives to nuclear power, for more information visit the NEIS website.
Dr. Norma Field is retired from University of Chicago Dept. of East Asian Studies. She has taught courses on âthe bombâ and other nuclear issues. She is Japanese, and frequently returns for Japan for visits and conferences relating to nuclear issues. She will be reporting on her recent visit to Japan and the situation in the areas around the Fukushima disaster zone. Her remarks on the effects of the Nuclear Age on people â âWhere are the People?â -- served as the keynote address to the 2012 70th anniversary observance of the first chain reaction, held at the University of Chicago.
"Where Are The People?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGH3z3srtNo&feature=share&list=UUSgXu3i7zx9V-MiAuLeOmtA%E2%80%9D
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