NUCLEAR FEARS

I'm pondering -- double, double, toil and trouble, stirring the latest real news about Japan's nuclear future, and us -- our 104 Nuclear plants.

As of July 20th; the situation in Japan is not good.. Cooling the reactors is creating nuclear waste that cannot be cleaned up. The waste creates radioactive particles.. Japanese adults and children are being exposed to radiation, through water, food, and the air they breathe.

Yes, scientists and experts all over the world have been working on ways to dispose of nuclear waste -- it remains hot, and dangerous for many, many years -- nobody knows for how long but 20 years, and 10, 000 years have been mentioned by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Meanwhile, in Japan, the area affected is now 17 times the size of Manhattan. Japan's beef have been fed contaminated food. The Japan's government has stopped the shipment of its beef to other countries. It should not be eaten by anyone.

It is a disaster worse than Chernobyl, which still continues to harm people and the land, and the radiation from Chernobyl has spread, is still spreading to other countries.

In Chernobyl, the sarcophagus that was built 25 years ago, to cover the hot nuclear waste, is crumbling. Workers in hazard-protective suits, are on the site daily, repairing the sarcophagus.

No doubt about it -- radioactive nuclear particles from Fukushima are in the air and have been found in automobile filters in Seattle.

Meanwhile, Chicago's nuclear plant has a leaking reactor, The Tennessee Valley Authority reports that one of its nuclear reactor has been leaking. Cooling the reactor, disposing of nuclear waste is what's more or less being done in Illinois and Tennessee right now.

What's being done by our government to protect us from more plants, more reactors leaking fuel.

Nothing significant -- from what I've read, Exelon, the corporation that built the plants in Illinois made large contributions to Obama's presidential campaign. Exelon CEO John Rowe was appointed by Obama to his Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future.

Is that why nothing is being done right now? White House critics say Obama doesn't want to pass a law, or make a ruling that will hurt him?

I am not going to drift into a post about our stuck government situation. I'm just gathering information, and updating OUR fears -- mine and yours.

August 2, the members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, pledged quick action on a task force report recommending sweeping safety changes for the U.S. Nuclear industry. But commission members were divided on Tuesday, on what that means. They are saying they can't vote on the full report within the 90 days that the NRC Chairman recommends. Why? Because some of the changes recommended could add millions of costs for the nuclear operators, such as Excelon Corp, Louisiana-based Energy, and Georgia-based Southern Co., and all the nuclear operators need detailed plans.
What should we do? Stop building plants? shut down the plants? Make more laws, more rules for checking, inspecting?

Nuclear problems are surrounding us like the clouds, the air, the sky. Sources for this post:
July 20, CBS News report by the World Health Organization; July 19 New York Times blog;
statements by Dr. Maria Neira, director, department of public health and environment; Arnold Gundersen, former nuclear industry senior vice president, Dr. MV Ramana, physicist, Princeton University Programme on Science an d Global Security; Dr. Shoji Sawada, physicist, Professor Emeritus, Japan's Nagoya University; IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency, Incident and Emergency Centre]; Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency; Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO).