Japan's Nuclear Rescuers: 'Inevitable Some of Them May Die Within Weeks'

[Nomad]

Full story here

Speaking tearfully through an interpreter by phone, the mother of a 32-year-old worker said: “My son and his colleagues have discussed it at length and they have committed themselves to die if necessary to save the nation.
“He told me they have accepted they will all probably die from radiation sickness in the short term or cancer in the long-term.”

She could not confirm if her son or other workers were already suffering from radiation sickness. But she added: “They have concluded between themselves that it is inevitable some of them may die within weeks or months. They know it is impossible for them not to have been exposed to lethal doses of radiation.”

Not surprising, given the nature of the beast they've been wrestling, but very sad nonetheless. These selfless people are true heroes, and should be treated as such. Their sacrifice is inspiring, and likely to save many others from the worst effects of the radiation.

 

[LuckyKBoxer]

I am not sure what to think atm.
I heard this morning that Japan has asked for France and the United States for help in getting the reactor situations under control. They simply do not what to do.
It makes me wonder if all this time if they ahve been scrambling like chicken with their heads cut off doing ineffective stuff in a vain attempt to deal with this, making the sacrafice of some of these workers worthless, or if its just a serious of unforseen and unavoidable circumstances that has led to this point.
I can not help but get the feeling that the Japanese leaders have kept this underwraps hoping it would go away so they dont lose face, all the while allowing it to get worse because of their pride. Now I wake up this morning to hear that in Washington and California there is detectable traces of iodine radiation showing up in our milk.
Of course they keep slathering that with the "there is no danger" remarks, but what the hell do I want radiation in milk I am feeding my 2 and 5 year olds.
Quite frankly I am pissed at the Japanese leadership over this reactor deal. I feel their attitude has made the problem worse stretched it out, and put everyone in harms way..
I may very well be wrong here, but its the feeling I can not shake.
I feel horrible for the Japanese people for the tragedy, and they devestation, and the long road to recovery facing them and would not wish that on anyone. I am still however extremely pissed at the Japanese leadership for this prolonged danger.

 

[elder999]

I am not sure what to think atm.
I heard this morning that Japan has asked for France and the United States for help in getting the reactor situations under control. They simply do not what to do.
It makes me wonder if all this time if they ahve been scrambling like chicken with their heads cut off doing ineffective stuff in a vain attempt to deal with this, making the sacrafice of some of these workers worthless, or if its just a serious of unforseen and unavoidable circumstances that has led to this point.
I can not help but get the feeling that the Japanese leaders have kept this underwraps hoping it would go away so they dont lose face, all the while allowing it to get worse because of their pride.

Some combination of all of those, I'm afraid......

Now I wake up this morning to hear that in Washington and California there is detectable traces of iodine radiation showing up in our milk.
Of course they keep slathering that with the "there is no danger" remarks, but what the hell do I want radiation in milk I am feeding my 2 and 5 year olds.

There are already radioactive isotopes in the milk you are feeding your 2 and 5 year olds.

There are already radioactive isotopes in your 2 and 5 year olds; they've been there for 2 and 5 years.

Quite frankly I am pissed at the Japanese leadership over this reactor deal. I feel their attitude has made the problem worse stretched it out, and put everyone in harms way..
I may very well be wrong here, but its the feeling I can not shake.

They'e been lying since the 13th of March, and there was nothing they could do. If they had told the truth, it wouldn't have made a damn bit of difference, except the cement snorkels could have arrived on site a little earlier. Neither the government, nor, especially, TEPCO, have been quite ready to go there just yet, though the government started moving that way a couple of days ago.

 

[LuckyKBoxer]

Some combination of all of those, I'm afraid......



There are already radioactive isotopes in the milk you are feeding your 2 and 5 year olds.

There are already radioactive isotopes in your 2 and 5 year olds; they've been there for 2 and 5 years.




They'e been lying since the 13th of March, and there was nothing they could do. If they had told the truth, it wouldn't have made a damn bit of difference, except the cement snorkels could have arrived on site a little earlier. Neither the government, nor, especially, TEPCO, have been quite ready to go there just yet, though the government started moving that way a couple of days ago.

I get that about the radioactive isotopes, it is still unnerving to hear a news reporter saying they have detected heightened levels of radioactivity in milk..... I think I am more pissed at the reporters/new program for not being a bit more detailed.. I had literally just heard about it less then 30 minutes before posting so it was/is a bit unnerving...
I just hate the fact that in the back of my mind I am wondering if that radioactivity is going to increase, if its what they say it is, or if its more... I will be over it here shortly, but I bet everytime I pick up a gallon of milk to pour my kids a glass that thought is going to pop back up again briefly... with everything else you need to be concerned with when raising kids, it is not fun to have another one thrown on top of it.

I wonder how much worse the situation is going to get before they build a concrete sarcophagus around it and write it off as unsavable? I remember the thread a couple weeks ago that was discussing this and how it was being sensationalized in the media... funny thing is its not so sensationalized now is it? Seems like highly radioactive water is being released in the ocean, and high radioactivity is being found farther away from the reactor then they said was possible, the are claiming the meltdown is worse then they have said, or are still saying, they are giving up and basically hoping someone else can come save it for them at this point... so for those that know alot more about this...
how much worse can this get?

 

[elder999]

I I remember the thread a couple weeks ago that was discussing this and how it was being sensationalized in the media... funny thing is its not so sensationalized now is it?

It is sensationalized, that's what the media does.........

....but, if you recall, I said in that thread that it's bad

so for those that know alot more about this...
how much worse can this get?

Worse. I'll update that other thread.

 

[Sukerkin]

It's still being sensatinalised even now but the media, as is it's way, ramps down on a story over time.

I do concur that the approach the Japanese authoraties has taken has been less than optimal. On the one hand they have issued scary warnings for radiation levels that did not warrant them, then retracted those warnings only for something else to happen at the power station itself. It's made for a confused picture made even worse by needless tabloid headlines in the media.

The one about Scotland I mentioned earlier was one of the most recent examples of this. The headlines trumpeted alarm about 'fallout' from Japan reaching Scotland ... except that it was in amounts so miniscule that all the event signified was the high sensitivity of the detectors.

If there is serious danger then the media can play an important part in informing people of it - scaring them half to death when there is no such danger undermines things when there is something to worry about.

None of which matters when it comes to the mindset and courage of the workers in the OP of course. Whether their fears turn out to be accurate or not is irrelevant to their fortitude in making their choice :bows:.

 

[elder999]

None of which matters when it comes to the mindset and courage of the workers in the OP of course. Whether their fears turn out to be accurate or not is irrelevant to their fortitude in making their choice :bows:.

Their fears are accurate.

I've worked at a variety of different places where we had system descriptions, and job descriptions. The primary purpose of a system at most of them was "do this or that," same as a job description: at a conventional power plant, the primary purpose of the boiler feed system is to feed water into the boilers to make steam, and the primary job of a plant operator is to operate systems like the boiler feed system.

When I started my career as a plant operator at Indian Point, 28 years ago, the primary purpose of nearly every system was "To protect the public health and safety., and it was my primary job.

Nukes are viewed a lot of ways, but one thing they clearly are is different, as are the people who operate them.

If this had happened 28 years ago, or even 17 years ago, just before I left for NM, I'd have done the same thing as those men in Japan-and so would everyone I worked with.

 

[shesulsa]

The bad thing about nuclear energy science is that it is incomplete in that we have no safe way of handling disasters such as this and we have no safe way of disposing of nuclear waste.

Uranium 235 has a half-life of over 700 million years, btw.

That's SEVEN ... HUNDRED ... MILLION.

Buh-bye now.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Half-Life Yes I know shesulsa already posted a link

Half-life is the period of time it takes for a substance undergoing decay to decrease by half.

What this basically means there are multiple half-lives of a radioactive element it does not mean that in 700,000,000 years it is all now safe