We are sorry. We were posting about the environmental tragedy of the
Fukushima nuclear reactors in Japan for some time, and then things came
up, and we thought Japan was onto things quicker in regards to cleanup
as they suggested (We recollect the cold shut down was to commence no
later than 2012). We and Tepco were wrong.
We are back.
Never in our lives did we think we would ever be posting on our blog
about abandoned places, people and ultimately about our potentially
abandoned earth in the future.
But as explorers of the
abandoned, we explore everything, sometimes by leaving only foot prints
behind, and sometimes in our arm chairs looking onto events we cannot
control, about complete abandoned civilizations as per 'Ecocide'.
At
the root of all abandoned phenomenon, as we have believed right from
the start, is the abandonment of our civilization, history and common
sense. We have abandoned ourselves and one another, as depicted in the
history of all abandoned places and people on this planet, including the
ultimate extinction of so many great civilizations before ours, all
overcome by various outcomes of ecocide.
Yesterday I wrote about the situation around Japan being one of the leading countries of recycling MOX fuel, a deadly cocktail of plutonium and uranium. It's left open-ended so that you can draw your own conclusions as to why hardly anyone is discussing the MOX fuel issue in Japan's nuclear energy crisis.
Here are some ways we're being 'dumbed' down with facts and empty rhetoric:
We're told, especially at the onslaught of the Fukashima crisis, that Japan is the world leader in nuclear energy so 'don't worry, be happy' they know what they're doing because they are a leader in the nuclear industry.
Wakeup Call
Transitioning to the recycling of plutonium doesn't make a nation a leader in the nuclear industry, it makes you a ticking time bomb. It also increases your chances of encountering terrorism and illegal activities, such as setting up secret transport missions of fuel cells to Japan. Waste materials, such as plutonium and MOX are NOT commodities but dangerous waste. Yet, Japan is now a leader of the industry due to recycling what shouldn't be recycled in the first place.
More so, MOX fuel doesn't do well in some reactors, especially older reactors, such as those in Fukushima. But it's being used anyhow, despite the dangers involved.
Some Interesting Quotes
"Japan has plans to build breeder reactors and reprocessing plant that could produce fuel for thousands of nuclear weapons." Is this how we perceive an industry leader? Do we need thousands more nuclear weapons? The whole concept of MOX fuel was to rid of old nuclear weaponary waste in the first place. What's happening now at Fukashima is showing us that thoughtless ways to dispose of deadly waste always comes back to bite us in the ass.
This brings us to another growing rhetoric, and it probably offends some but let's get real, shall we? The workers at Fukashima are heroes. Are they? Do we know this for sure? Or are they being forced to do this incredibly dangerous mission? Or not even fully aware of the dangers involved? No one's especially talking about this neither.
"Laborers who work at nuclear plants are often homeless people, foreign immigrants and burakumin (descendants of an outcast class) who are recruited as day laborers by gangs that have connections with the yakuza. It is not usual for these workers work unprotected in areas with high levels of radiation. The workers are sometimes called "nuclear gypsies." One of these workers told the Los Angeles Times he worked for two hours in room with steam leaking out of a pipe the whole time. Unbeknownst to him the steam was highly radioactive. When he was finished his radio meter pointed off the scale. A few months later his joints swelled and his hair and teeth fell out."
So today, I viewed a Reuters report stating that the Japanese government is not releasing who the workers are, who stayed - nothing. That bothers me. Immensely. These men are heroes even if they didn't actually sign up for it knowingly, that is for sure. But we really don't know, do we?
Does the earthquake, tsunami and the unknowing people in Japan have my sympathy - yes. Does a dishonest nuclear industry have my sympathy - no.Why my sympathy is running out and anger is growing is because how does a nation who encountered Hiroshima end up in this nuclear industry as it is today? Some would answer that Japan has few resources of their own to make a different choice. What do you think?
The Supermoon
So onto another topic. The supermoon. Over the last week I've probably read up on many topics posted over the Internet from doomsday prophecies, the Hopi prophecies, the supermoon and solar flares and on and on. Mainstream scientists don't place much emphasis on the supermoon theory. However, if you search up the USA gov't website at the very bottom you will encounter that most recent studies indicate an increased correlation between the moon and earthquakes on earth. However, NASA does put some faith in the solar activity that is occurring, and last year stated they foresee huge solar activity in 2013, which could effect cell phones, satellites and so on on a larger scale.Is NASA suddenly doom and gloom?
But let's get back to the supermoon and hopi tradition, or even the Mayan predictions. If the earth is going through a cleansing period these events should likely tell us it is actually happening. The moon's supermoon activity is just a method of cleansing in it's own right based on gravitational forces. The moon also is likely encountering more a shakeup than earth is during this supermoon shakeup. Moreover, is it just a coincidence that as Japan continues to develop a deadly mox fuel program that the cleansing is also happening on a social level? Think about it. It's a wake-up call to stop using these deadly chemicals and isotopes. So putting it mildly, these doomsday prophecies are not doom and gloom, but a glimmer of hope to clean up our act literally. I just hope we don't stick our heads back into the sand again.
Postnotes:
I am not a supporter of any prophecies or religions, nor any science. We all put faith in things we shouldn't, including scientists. And this is exactly the point. We have to educate ourselves and come to our own conclusions. However, after a week of crisis I can finally see how all different theories can actually amount to a wakeup call.
Over the last few days I begun wondering why the media stopped publishing information about MOX fuel, the plutonium-uranium mix used in Fukushima's No. 3 reactor. I also wondered why there is talk about Iodide pills and masks being sold out across America. I haven't bought any, and from what I hear it is likely too late to buy any anyhow. I'm not necessarily worried, but I was interested in finding out more about MOX fuel and it's potential for larger-scale destruction.
Dangers of MOX Fuel
Let's put it this way: MOX fuel is dangerous. At it's worst case scenario, Reactor no. 3 will be the make of scientific study for years to come. Unfortunately, we'll all be part of the 'experiment'. Plutonium dangers kind of has that "MOX Factor" that makes you kind of hope this situation only gets better over the next few days.
I did some research, and I'll include the links for you to see for yourself, because there's no point in reinventing the wheel when these websites have put so much into etching out the dangers involved.
Something that really concerns me was the information at one particular website regarding Japan's heavy involvement with plutonium and MOX fuel. How many of us regular citizens are aware of these things? Japan stocks huge masses of unprocessed nuclear fuel rods containing plutonium.
France and Britain are two countries heavily invested in sending their plutonium to Japan to be recycled. "Japan has been sharply criticized for accepting plutonium transported on ship from other countries."
In fact: "Japan has plans to build breeder reactors and reprocessing plant that could produce fuel for thousands of nuclear weapons. Analysts aren't worried so much about Japan's nuclear capabilities as they are about such large amount of plutonium falling into the hands of terrorists or a hostile country. When North Korea was asked to close down its nuclear reprocessing plant it said, "Japan is allowed to do it why can't we.""
It Gets Worse:
"There have also been complaints that safety regulations are treated lightly, workers are inadequately trained and the lives workers are endangered. In 1999, it was found that quality control documents on reprocessed plutonium had been fraudulently certified. In 2002, it was discovered there a systematic cover up of data showing cracks in reactors that dated back to the late 1980s."
"Laborers who work at nuclear plants are often homeless people, foreign immigrants and burakumin (descendants of an outcast class) who are recruited as day laborers by gangs that have connections with the yakuza. It is not usual for these workers work unprotected in areas with high levels of radiation. The workers are sometimes called "nuclear gypsies." One of these workers told the Los Angeles Times he worked for two hours in room with steam leaking out of a pipe the whole time. Unbeknownst to him the steam was highly radioactive. When he was finished his radio meter pointed off the scale. A few months later his joints swelled and his hair and teeth fell out."
Now if these issues are correct, then I applaud the workers at Fukushima even more.But it's a sad waste of human potential to treat workers like this if these other reports are accurate.
Is MOX Fuel Viewed as a Commodity?
But the bigger question also is what exactly is going on here? Nothing is really being discussed about Japan's use of Mox fuel, nor the future of nuclear energy, which is clearly dangerous on multiple levels. Nor the countries exporting their fuel rods for recycling. Finally, this is the wrong message: Plutonium is not a recyclable commodity. There are various types of plutonium isotopes, but plutonium - 239 has a half-life of 240, 000 years. Nope, in fact, it's a toxic waste an industry wanted to get rid of and tries to make more revenue out of it in the process. Is that the definition of industrial evils, or not?
I think we all need to get educated nowadays, and out of this I dearly hope Japan is reconsidering the road that recycling plutonium is leading them (and everyone globally) down. However, I wonder if this is the case, because it's not the first time events like this have happened in Japan. Now we've cycled back again - due to an earthquake and tsunami - and this time the implications have more magnitude on a world level; and hopefully the good out of the destruction of the earthquake, tsunami and partial nuclear meltdown is a lesson for us all toward a cleaner future.It actually might be the best wake-up call we've had in awhile.
Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.
-Henri Cartier-Bresson-
Public Commons
We see the beauty in decay and the shadowed dreams of the forgotten.
