Is Boeing Helping the Feds Cover Up the Worst Nuke Disaster in US History?

[JohnyCanuck]

In 1959, the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) north of Los Angeles leaked more than 300 times the allowable amount of radiation into surrounding neighborhoods, according to an in-depth investigation by NBC4 Southern California. That contamination is now linked to up to a 60% increase in cancer in the area.

After a power surge occurred in one of the nuclear reactors, operators of the facility for weeks deliberately released radiation into the atmosphere to avoid a nuclear detonation similar to Chernobyl.

Boeing's acquisition of SSFL in 1996 has prevented any proper investigation into current radiation levels at the site and stalled any cleanup efforts, according to the NBC4 investigation.

snip

A University of Michigan study found that rates of cancer were 60% higher in the area around SSFL than in other regions. Boeing dismissed the analysis, saying it found no proof of health side effects due to radiation.

Continued at:
http://sputniknews.com/us/20150929/1027747541.html

[Octafish]

1. Sad, having to read foreign papers for important news missing from US press.

I know the new phones are out, but some people still might be interested in life or death news.

Details:

Startling Revelations About Three Mile Island (Nuclear) Disaster
Raise doubts over nuclear plant safety

by Sue Sturgis
CommonDreams, Friday, April 03, 2009
by Facing South

It was April Fool's Day, 1979 -- 30 years ago this week -- when Randall Thompson first set foot inside the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Middletown, Pa. Just four days earlier, in the early morning hours of March 28, a relatively minor problem in the plant's Unit 2 reactor sparked a series of mishaps that led to the meltdown of almost half the uranium fuel and uncontrolled releases of radiation into the air and surrounding Susquehanna River.

It was the single worst disaster ever to befall the U.S. nuclear power industry, and Thompson was hired as a health physics technician to go inside the plant and find out how dangerous the situation was. He spent 28 days monitoring radiation releases.

Today, his story about what he witnessed at Three Mile Island is being brought to the public in detail for the first time -- and his version of what happened during that time, supported by a growing body of other scientific evidence, contradicts the official U.S. government story that the Three Mile Island accident posed no threat to the public.

"What happened at TMI was a whole lot worse than what has been reported," Randall Thompson told Facing South. "Hundreds of times worse."


CONTINUED...

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2009/04/03/startling-revelations-about-three-mile-island-nuclear-disaster

For those interested in learning what Nuke Inc doesn't want you to know, lots more info n links here: http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/03/three-mile-island-coverups-exposed.html

[SidDithers]

2. First they came for sputniknews...

Sid

[Octafish]

4. Emoticons are so you.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Tuesday announced that it was cancelling an in-progress study on cancer risks for populations living near reactor sites, citing cost and expected low value of the overall project—but at least one nuclear watchdog group is charging the agency with being part of a cover-up.

http://commondreams.org/news/2015/09/10/did-pro-nuclear-fanatics-get-us-nuke-regulator-cancel-cancer-study

Anything to add about nuclear power and cancer?

[Mustellus]

8. the picture is a pair of cooling towers....

These devices cool the water condensed from steam ... even in fossil fuel plants. They are a good thing, since they limit temperature increases in rivers, ocean bays, and prevent fish kills.

Cooling tower pictures are deliberately confused with nuclear reactors, since they must be leaking radiation, right?

Oppose nuclear power... but please be informed... and honest ... about it.

[Generic Other]

9. How do we stay informed when those in charge cover up the harm done?

Sadly, the only ones asking questions are those the pro-nuke crowd dismiss as lacking credibility. Easy way to deflect from the real dangers and concerns.

One thing that surprised me. Boeing owns a nuke plant. Funny how we have to get our info. Drip drip drip. The frog in the pot swims obliviously as the water slowly comes to a boil. Thanks Octafish for reporting issues that DU "scientists" deride without ever addressing.

[Octafish]

14. I met a freshman in college last month who never heard of Fukushima.

We were at a social gathering kicking off this program. Anyway, this young man -- all A's in high school, chosen from hundreds of applicants for a new program at a Michigan college -- was looking at a world map and I asked him if he knew about Fukushima.

He said he had not heard of it. I asked him if he knew that there were three atomic reactors in complete meltdown? He said, "No."

So, here I am with a kid who had gone through high school without hearing or reading a thing about the greatest atomic disaster since Nagasaki. Glad to have set him right, although that should be the news media's job.

Good thing we have DU, Generic Other. Sad to think how far democracy would be without us getting to exchange information and ideas here.

[Generic Other]

16. They think making fun of people is scientific method

The pro-nuke crowd at DU will pretend you are crazy for caring about this issue even though they seem to CARE a great deal about downplaying and dismissing. There is no media coverage because there is no information allowed to leak out. Just tons of radioactive water. One would think the reactors at Fukushima are contained and operational, that evacuating people from contaminated areas is more harmful than allowing them to live in the poison, that having lots of twinkly lights in Tokyo shopping district is more important than people's health, that scientific method means weighing profits against dangers, etc etc.

Meanwhile, anyone interested in this topic on DU must be prepared for because we all know that nuclear spills are funny stuff. DU's resident "scientist" tells us so anytime the topic comes up. And yet there is rarely any effort made to educate, inform or discuss the issues. Just mock the people who care about the issue. Create a dampening effect where posters decide not to post on this issue for fear of being told how ignorant we are. I always open threads about Fukushima. I rarely dare start one. My family lives 100 kilometers from the place. I care about what is happening there. At the very least, I find the insulting and offensive when we are talking about life and death issues. And I search elsewhere for information because DU fails as a reliable source.

When I see all the mocking nasty snark posted on these issues, I ask myself about the motives of those who feel impelled to post such rubbish. If they hate our sources, point to others that prove their own claims that everything is fine. That is how you help us "morans" understand science. Mocking us makes us more ignorant and more ready to reject your dangerous technologies.

[Octafish]

21. Labeling is a propaganda tool, a sign of a most undemocratic and unscientific post.

As you, Generic Other, I miss many of the DUers of Old, driven off by the likes of that lot. Funny how the asshat shills for spills and their emoticons gravitate toward positions of authority off DU and on. When I ask them to show where I'm wrong about Fukushima or domestic surveillance or Dallas or the Bush Crime Family, they can't.

Some of them I've been asking for many years. And they seem to always be there, their legacy a :ROFL:, on even some of the most remote subthreads of GD.

From what I've found: Their histories on DU reveal roots going back to the Amazing Randi's JREF Forum and John McAdams JFK site. For a handle, The Flock. Their actual scientific expertise extends to professional debunking and smear work. Saves time and effort. Good for business. Too bad about the truth, though.

Sometimes, DU serves as one of the few sources of information for a topic. I have had the honor of communicating with the children of those impacted by illegal and immoral US Government programs, including psychoactive drug and radiation testing, because of stuff they read online via the GOOGLE. DU popped up and they contacted me. I'm not braggin', just sayin' how important the free flow of information is for progress, science and democracy.

Here's a handy compendium for those new to the subject of Fukushima:



A Public Service Announcement about Plutonium

TEPCO - Plutonium is not dangerous. Where is the Boss?

Fukushima, Plutonium, CIA, and the BFEE: Deep Doo-Doo Four Ways to Doomsday

Before and After photo show significant tsunami damage...

On the Poet's Trail

Helicopter pictures show devastation inside Fukushima reactor towers

Governments Covering Up Nuclear Meltdowns for 50 Years to Protect the Nuclear Power Industry

Surviving Chernobyl Cleaner: 'Tell The People Of Japan To Run!'

What part of what he said wasn't true?

First thing I'd do if I were fighting this nuclear disaster is get the Team the best gear.

The Return of Nukespeak

TEPCO - Plutonium is not dangerous. Where's the Boss?

Toxic plutonium seeping from Japan's nuclear plant

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

Fukushima from Space

Absolutely. A real shame - man's hubris.

Japan Nuclear Power Plants

A more-recent satellite image of Fukushima Daiichi reactors 1-4...

The SCALE of the devastation is incredible.

Jimmy Carter, USN - Nuclear Hero

Utility Engineer Warned of Tsunami Threat at Japanese Nuclear Plant

Voyage to Fukushima Daiichi

TEPCO was warned and took the cheapskate's way out.

Fukushima owners failed to follow emergency manual - report

The people's ancestors left monuments to remind them of the dangers...

Fukushima tsunami plan a single page

Doubts deepen over TEPCO truthfulness after president's sightseeing trip uncovered

Atomic Samurai -IAEA Humbled By Worker Courage at Fukushima Daiichi

Fukushima Radiation Data Quarantined by Governments of Japan and the United States. Why?

Absolutely. And some, if not most, cancer deaths can be avoided with forewarning and knowledge.

''We never meant to conceal the information, but it never occurred to us to make it public.''

Fukushima Daiichi Mystery Man Steps Forward

The Fukushima Crisis Demonstrates how Lowly the Global Elites Hold the Common People

Plutonium detected 40km from Fukushima plant

Trivializing Fukushima

''We never meant to conceal the information, but it never occurred to us to make it public.''

In regards to Fukushima, the only thing TEPCO has successfully buried is the Truth.

TEPCO was warned and took the cheapskate's way out.

Trivializing Fukushima

Citizen Testing Finds 20 Radioactive Hot Spots Around Tokyo

Japan Fukushima plant dismantling needs over 30 yrs

Fukushima Typhoon raising radioactive water levels in contaminated buildings.

Fukushima owners failed to follow emergency manual - report

Fukushima and the Nuclear Establishment - The Big Lies Fly High

OP: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7090458

And we continue to give a damn, DU. The planet's future depends on democracy. Thanks, Generic Other! For years, you've been there.

[Octafish]

13. Did you read what's underneath the picture?

Did you bother to go to the link?

Be honest.

[Duppers]

5. Bookmarking.

Thanks, Octafish!

[GreatGazoo]

11. My friend's parent both died of cancer within 4 years of 3 Mile Island

and he lost his battle at age 23 with cancer attached to every vital organ in his torso. The family had lived within a couple of miles of 3 Mile Island.

[SidDithers]

3. sputnik. LOL...nt

Sid

[bemildred]

6. Yes, they are. nt

[Mustellus]

7. Chernobyl was a steam explosion followed by a graphite fire....

started by a reactor with no active cooling.

Please get your facts right. Nuclear reactors melt down, have steam explosions, leak, burn... but they don't have nuclear detonations

[hunter]

10. This is BS.

I've got family living within easy walking distance of the site.

This accident has been intensely investigated, by both the government and anti-nuclear activists for many years. I personally know quite a few of the primary investigators, mostly on the anti-nuclear side.

Yes, at first there was some secrecy in the beginning, nuclear secrets and all that bullshit

There are not really any stones left unturned. It's not difficult to wander around the place doing your own field work these days, with proper permissions or not.

A much larger problem is the non-nuclear chemical wastes from rocket tests and experiments. They used to throw it all in pits and light it on fire.

That's the shit that can kill you. "Half life" of FOREVER.

A landfill a few miles away is a much more toxic place. It accepted industrial liquid wastes of all sorts, and wasn't much concerned about what they were so long as they were approximately pH neutral and non-flammable.

Another big problem is hexavalent chromium of Erin Brockovich fame. That stuff was very carelessly disposed of by many industries, not just aerospace.

Don't forget the legacy of leaded gasoline too. That lead is still everywhere, in everything.

All these ongoing problems are much more serious than the nuclear accident.

[bemildred]

12. +1.

Workers Exposed to High Levels of Chemical Hydrazine at Rocket Engine Lab More Likely to Die of Certain Cancers:

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/Workers-Exposed-to-High-Levels-1129

[Generic Other]

15. None of what you mention here sounds like BS to me

Clearly there is cause for alarm. Are you saying the cancer clusters are NOT in ANY way associated with the nuke plant? How can one know this for a certainty? Do all the other polluters you identified also deny culpability?

Do you see anecdotal evidence of ongoing serious health issues in your family or friends in the area that seem out of the ordinary? It does sound like people who live there have cause for concern about a whole lot of issues.

[hunter]

18. There's plenty of good reasons to oppose nuclear power.

This accident isn't one of them.

At this point there is no signal to be found in all the noise.

The nuclear accident was a one of the less toxic events within a great playground of toxic horrors.

I think too many anti-nuclear activists become the feckless accomplices of the fossil fuel industry, a distraction from much more horrific daily fossil fuel catastrophes, including now a planetary climate that is becoming less hospitable to human life.

I'm some kind of Luddite myself. I'd like to erase some of the major technical achievements of the twentieth century: Large scale electric grids, the interstate highway system, frivolous air travel, etc. etc..

Okay, I'm not a lunatic, but it's a thought experiment that helps me imagine what a low energy high technology society might look like.

Here's a video you might enjoy:

http://www.etec.energy.gov/Library/Video/Video_index.html

[Generic Other]

20. The video suggests the government used to be more transparent

Today, the perception of secretiveness and cover-ups makes us doubt anything we are told. Thanks for posting this.

I once went on a tour of Hanford. Certain impressions never left me. Waterstains on the walls inside the reactor buildings. I know. I know. Stupid of me to expect a nuclear plant to maintain lab-like conditions. The constant ticking of geiger counters. The use of yellow police tape to indicate safe areas vs. radioactive ones. The men with submachine guns dressed like stormtroopers in the elevator that led to the reactor. The feeling that there were official answers to all questions. No women of childbearing age allowed to work there. Sad looking men who said they had to make a living when asked how they could live with the risks. Homes in the area equipped with alarms in case of meltdown. The enormous amount of waste (including a whole submarine). How close the Columbia River was. Try as I may, I am unconvinced of the long term safety of such a place. That they haven't killed me yet is not the most convincing argument in support of nukes.

The insinuation that those who oppose anti-nuclear power play into the hands of the fossil fuel industry is certainly disturbing, since many of us favor wind, solar and hydro power. I guess one major reason I do not trust nuclear power (besides safety issues) is the fact that Cheney pushes it so forcefully. I long ago made a rule that if he's for it, there are probably a million good reasons for me to be suspicious.

Thank you for respecting the fact that we don't all agree on the solutions.

[hack89]

19. That entire site was an environmental nightmare

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Susana_Field_Laboratory#Medical_claims

There is certainly cause for alarm. Trying to determine what accident did this or that, however, is a fruitless endeavor.

[Omaha Steve]

17. Thanks for posting

K&R!