Nuclear Engineer Arnie Gundersen: Fukushima Meltdown Could Result in 1 Million Cases of Cancer

[bananas]

Last month, Amy Goodman had Arnie Gundersen on for the one-year anniversary of the Fukushima meltdown.

His comments about Gorbachev are particularly relevant right now as we approach the 26-year anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, and as Californians call for the permanent shutdown of the damaged San Onofre reactors.

The full transcript is at http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/12/nuclear_engineer_arnie_gundersen_fukushima_meltdown

Here's a small excerpt:

AMY GOODMAN: We are going right now to Burlington, Vermont, to speak with Arnie Gundersen, former nuclear industry senior vice president who has coordinated projects at 70 nuclear power plants around the country. Arnie Gundersen provides independent testimony on nuclear and radiation issues to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and congressional and state legislatures, as well as government agencies and officials in the U.S. and abroad, now chief engineer at Fairewinds [Associates]. He co-wrote the new Greenpeace report, "Lessons from Fukushima."

What are these lessons, Arnie Gundersen?

ARNIE GUNDERSEN: Well, I think the first—the first lesson is that this is a technology that can destroy a nation. I was reading Mikhail Gorbachev’s memoirs, and he claims that it was Chernobyl, not perestroika, that destroyed the Soviet Union. And as you look at the transcripts coming out of Japan, we see that the Fukushima accident was on the verge of causing the evacuation of Tokyo. And had the wind been blowing the other way, across the island instead of out to sea, Japan would have been cut in half and destroyed as a functional country. So, this is a technology where perhaps accidents don’t happen every day, but when they do, they can destroy a country.

The other things are the cost is astronomical. To fix this is going to be something on the order of half-a-trillion dollars. All of the money that Japan saved on oil over the 40 years that they’ve had nuclear plants just got thrown away in the half-a-trillion-dollar recovery effort.

And the other piece is the human issues. The health impacts to the Japanese will begin to be felt in several years and out to 30 or 40 years from cancers. And I believe we’re going to see as many as a million cancers over the next 30 years because of the Fukushima incident in Japan.

<snip>

In California, the wind generally blows inland from the ocean.

On April 29, there will be a rally to shut down San Onofre,
details at http://shutdownsanonofre.org/

[ladjf]

1. The two worst things ever done by the Japanese was (1) attacking the U.S. in WWII and (2) spreading

nuclear power plants all over their Country, the worlds least stable land.

The Japanese as smart and educated. But, somehow the wrong people have been in charge.

(That's exactly what is happening in the U.S.)

[izquierdista]

2. A lot of different people are smart and educated

Why do they keep letting stupid fuckers say "I'm in charge"?

[ladjf]

6. Very good question. I've often wondered about that. Seems as though the smartest

people aren't interested in politics. nt

[izquierdista]

7. Politics requires real mud wrestling skills

Smelly pigs end up winning too much of the time.

[ladjf]

8. I'm no expert on history but, I think politics has always been that way. There ought to be

a solution to this problem. I do recall that in the Dialogs of Plato, he suggested that proven
intelligent people be drafted into political service of a certain amount of time just like the
army. He said that sense the best thinkers don't volunteer to serve, they should be drafted.

I really don't think his plan would work. But, it shows that over 2,000 years ago, the Greeks
were worried about the same. problem.

[izquierdista]

9. I like that idea.

I've thought that would be worth a try. Now that you mention that Plato was the one who brought it up, I will think more of it. The advantage is that you get the self-appointed blowhards and Yale legacies out of the front of the line and replace them with a random schlub. If the random schlub fucks up, you just say "thank you, next!"

[Marblehead]

3. too cheap to meter

cause the NRC considers human life to be very cheap...

[PearliePoo2]

4. More from Gunderson:

While traveling in Japan several weeks ago, Fairewinds’ Arnie Gundersen took soil samples in Tokyo public parks, playgrounds, and rooftop gardens.
All the samples would be considered nuclear waste if found here in the US. This level of contamination is currently being discovered throughout Japan.

http://www.fairewinds.org/

[FBaggins]

5. Why not ten million? Or a billion?

If you're going to make up an entirely unsupportable BS number to scare people... you might as well go big, right?

Though I suppose that this time, since he changed his "million cancer deaths" over 20 years to just a million cancers over 30-40 years we should take this as his more reasonable estimate?

For the record. Only the very wildest estimates approach anywhere near a million for Chernobyl (with most being FAR lower)... and Chernobyl was many MANY times more deadly than Fukushima.

He went 'round the bend years ago... but this is just further proof that he has little change of ever finding his way back to reality.