Hiroshima to Fukushima: The Illusion of Control - HuffPo

[WillyT]

Hiroshima to Fukushima: The Illusion of Control
Joe Cirincione - President, Ploughshares Fund
Posted: March 25, 2011 03:02 PM

his article was co-authored by Paul Carroll, Program Director at Ploughshares Fund.

<snip>

On March 11, there were 443 nuclear reactors operating around the world. On March 12, that number shrunk by four.

An earthquake, a tsunami and a record of poor safety management converged to create one of the worst nuclear accidents in history. The crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant is still unfolding and, after some progress earlier this week, has again taken a grim turn with signs that at least one of the reactors may have been breached. Even under the best of circumstances, it is likely that four of the six Fukushima Daiichi reactors are a total loss. Japanese officials are considering what some believe inevitable--entombing the reactors in mounds of sand and concrete, as was done at Chernobyl. If so, the four sarcophagi on the Japanese shoreline will become stark reminders of the limits of human control.

It is one of the great achievements of humankind that we can split the atom. The nuclear energy released, however is inherently dangerous--whether in a power plant or a bomb. And not just dangerous like skydiving or gasoline tanks may be dangerous, but dangerous on an immense scale and duration...

<snip>

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-cirincione/hiroshima-to-fukushima-th_b_840753.html

:kick:

[WillyT]

1. Apparently... We Almost Nuked North Carolina...

But the connections between the two are just as fundamental. Both involve our collective deception that we can always control the nuclear machines we invented. We cannot. There have been dozens of close calls, false alerts and near launches in the nuclear age. In one instance, a US bomber crash dropped two hydrogen bombs over North Carolina. Five out of six of the bomb's arming devices activated -- only the sixth prevented an actual nuclear detonation.

Same article.

[crickets]

7. We dropped a bomb on South Carolina too. And off the coast of Georgia.

South Carolina:
Atomic Bomb dropped on Florence, S.C., March 11, 1958
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM8P6T_Atomic_Bomb_dropped_on_Florence_SC_March_11_1958

(On March 11th, 1958) a B- 47E, manned by USAF Captains Koehler,Woodruff, and Kulka was ascending across the area on its way to England, carrying an A- Bomb.

Suddenly, a bomb- rack problem and the 7,600- lb TNT part of the weapon plunged down onto farmscape below.

The TNT detonated on impact, blew a 70' x 35' crater, destroyed the home of Walter Gregg, injured his family, damaged Mizpah Baptist Church, and cracked walls in a five-mile radius. The plutonium core did not explode. No one was killed. The Greggs won a modest settlement. The aircrew was exonerated, later resuming defense duties.

Georgia:
For 50 Years, Nuclear Bomb Lost in Watery Grave
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18587608

On Feb. 5, 1958, a B-47 bomber dropped a 7,000-pound nuclear bomb into the waters off Tybee Island, Ga., after it collided with another Air Force jet.

Fifty years later, the bomb — which has unknown quantities of radioactive material — has never been found.

The Case of the Missing H-Bomb
http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0803-08.htm

...There was a big problem, of course, and the Pentagon knew it. In the first three months of 1958 alone, the Air Force had four major accidents involving H-bombs. (Since 1945, the United States has lost 11 nuclear weapons.) The Tybee Island bomb remained a threat, as the AEC acknowledged in a June 10, 1958 classified memo to Congress: "There exists the possibility of accidental discovery of the unrecovered weapon through dredging or construction in the probable impact area. ... The Department of Defense has been requested to monitor all dredging and construction activities."

But the wizards of Armageddon saw it less as a security, safety or ecological problem, than a potential public relations disaster that could turn an already paranoid population against their ambitious nuclear project. The Pentagon and the AEC tried to squelch media interest in the issue by a doling out a morsel of candor and a lot of misdirection. In a joint statement to the press, the Defense Department and the AEC admitted that radioactivity could be "scattered" by the detonation of the high explosives in the H-bombs. But the letter downplayed possibility of that ever happening: "The likelihood that a particular accident would involve a nuclear weapon is extremely limited."

In fact, that scenario had already occurred and would occur again.

[marions ghost]

9. when did that happen?

n/t

[Luminous Animal]

2. For those of us who won't cross the picket line at the HuffPo, a link to the Ploughshares site....

http://www.ploughshares.org/news-analysis/blog/hiroshima-fukushima-illusion-control

[WhiteTara]

3. Thanks. I won't cross that picket line ever

When the writers are paid nothing and she makes billions, time to go elsewhere for my "news."

[WillyT]

4. I Admit... It's A Tough One...

Virtual picket line at Huffington Post may trip labor leaders
By ANN BELSER, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Posted March 22, 2011 at 3:27 p.m.

Link: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/mar/22/virtual-picket-line-huffington-post-may-trip-labor/

And I must have missed the call by the Guild.

Thanks for the heads-up.

:hi:

[Luminous Animal]

5. You are welcome!

:hi:

[TomClash]

6. Appreciated nt

[crickets]

8. Thank you. -nt