Everything Is Gone

There are many things that I want to write about but I cannot by-pass commenting on the cataclysmic devastation in Japan. Reports tell us that the earthquake, that hit the north island on Friday 11th March with its epi-centre off the east coast, was one of the most powerful ever recorded anywhere and generated a tsunami with waves well over 30 feet high. These swept across the Pacific Ocean but most of the damage was done as they swept ashore in Japan travelling at speeds approaching 100 mph. The waves swept all before them and devastated whole towns; some were just swept away like so much matchwood. The pictures show devastation like nothing I have seen since the pictures of the aftermath of Hiroshima. But in some ways these pictures were worse. The destruction included boats - and ships, even - lifted from harbours and carried inland to be unceremoniously dumped amid the urban wreckage. Fighter aircraft from military bases were also swept along by the raging torrents of mud and sea water. Power supplies have gone, water supplies cut off and many, many roads torn up. The devastation is on a scale hardly ever seen since wartime and the Japanese PM has said that this is the worst catastrophy to hit his country since WWII. No one will argue with him on that.

The whole of the world community must make a massive effort to relieve and re-build and help Japan recover. One complication on this front is the damage to several of Japan's nuclear power stations. Most are now shut down and there have been several severe explosions. Thousands have been evacuated but the public are being told not to worry; there is no risk of a radiation problem. This may be true. Or it may not. The nuclear industry world-wide has a doubtful reputation when it comes to telling the truth about nuclear "accidents". The pictures I saw this morning of an explosion throwing lumps of metal and concrete several hundred feet into the air did not make be believe that these were little local difficulties. The Japanese engineers are frantically pumping seawater into the reactor jackets to try to cool them down. When this fails there is an explosion. Using seawater like this makes it quite clear that whatever else these reactors are beyond repair. Hopefully, the pressure vessels containing the reactor cores will remain intact. If nay do not, we have another Chernobyl. Indeed, at this moment we have the potential for several Chernobyl's. I have been long term opposed to the extension of nuclear power use because of exactly this problem. If these had been conventional power stations, they could have been shut down without any risks outside the power stations concerned. And immediately afterwards - no matter how severe the disaster - the emergency services and engineers could have moved in to start clearing up the mess and repairing the damage. If we think it is possible to do that with a nuclear disaster, we should remember Chernobyl. That disaster occurred in 1986. All the men who fought to put out the fires and stop the nuclear reactor are long dead - all 2,000 of them. The fall-out drifted across Belarus and, in spite of lots of news blackouts by the former Soviet authorities, we now know that the effects on the population of Belarus were and still are, catastrophic. It is estimated that 80% of the children in the blighted country have health issues that can be directly linked to Chernobyl. I don't know what we will finally learn about the radiation damage from these Japanese power station explosions but yesterday, the US Navy moved one of its aircraft carriers away from Japanese waters because they had detected increased levels of radiation - and they were 100 miles away!

/