Fukushima - Total Cost

Arnie Gundersen of Fairwinds Associates (a leading nuclear expert) and Warren Pollock ( http://www.wepollock.com )redefine the Fukushima nuclear incidents (meltdowns and explosions) in terms of human and total cost. Its easy to look at the details of a highly complex speciality, but it has been hard to quantify the cost and risk of nuclear power up to now! We talk about the rate of failure of nuclear being so high that were that rate applied to aviation there would be no air travel. Nuclear is different in that you have no choice in trading risk for travel, or in this case risk for energy. During 9-11 human value in the western world was quantified in an actuarial model which put each person at a value of $1.8 million dollars. Gundersen explains that up to 1 Million people will be damaged by this incident which puts the total damage well into the trillions of dollars. The full cost of nuclear power has to consider human cost and costs of contamination to the environment. We clarify some important issues regarding radiation and particulate matter.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

[attackoftheblog]

Just finished watching this for the umpteenth time and I want to say how unbelievably sad it is that only 3,256 people have viewed this. 269 people disliked the Jerome Simpson (Bengals) Touchdown Endzone Flip video which was posted a few days ago and has over 1,000,000 views. For the sake of humanity, can you start tagging your videos with "six pack abs" "man staples testicles" "amazing slam dunk" "iphone 4g hacks" ---- anyway, all the best to you in 2012, you are greatly appreciated!!!

[wepollock]

@attackoftheblog the views are well below my expectations. The Ann Barnhardt interview had 20,000 views and that just about money. This video is telling an important story not being told anywhere else! So spread the word.

[davematherly]

THORIUM

Never developed as a fuel for nuke reactors. Why?

It can't be used to build weapons.

Safe when spent, unlike uranium.

We can have safe nuke power, with THORIUM.

But the nuke power industry feeds the weaponry industry.

[wepollock]

@davematherly I was going to ask Arnie A question about it; however I did not because I know the history.. with the US trying it in Indian Point in NY; The US has tried many-most configurations since it developed nuclear technology. now we have new materials thus its being tried again in China, Russia, and India. Thorium-Experiment-Prototype-T­esting-Experience-Learning have to be used way before the world solution is heralded about.. so see you in ten years+

[wepollock]

@wepollock lots of revisited prototype ideas are floating around molton salt pebble bed etc.. the small scale reactor mentioned in this video, Bill Gates project etc.

[cpswyl2]

Great stuff Warren. Is uranium totally out as an investment (never mind the state of the markets)? What does Arnie think we should aim for energy-wise ie, mode production? I suppose it all depends on how we remodel or economic model.

[wepollock]

@cpswyl2 remodeling the economy will be essential.. we need to use natural gas as a bridge fuel; time to have a peace-time Manhattan project, we could print solar cells using laser printers if we put our minds to it.

[desertgreek]

Warren I look forward to your videos, they are very interesting and thoughtfull, Thank you for making them. Somehow or another it appears that nuclear is not safe, its never been safe, and never will be safe.

[KnowledgeDriven]

32:10 the only reason these technologies are hanging around is to keep the technological progress of the perfectly-fit for aircraft carrier power supply units up to snuff. The wee bits o' floating sovereign lands have a pretty high convenience factor when they only have to dock to refuel every 4-5 years.

[signalfire6]

@sherri99516 Lack of god has nothing to do with it; it's hubris and the money based economy. We need a resource based economy which never would have allowed this dangerous a technology to be used. See The Zeitgeist Movement, now over half a BILLION members worldwide and in almost every country in the world, for another way of looking at an economy and being good stewards of the planet.

[signalfire6]

Free on line PDF of "We Almost Lost Detroit", as mentioned here, search for

"pdf we almost lost detroit"

It's a great read and quite chilling. 

[N1ceGuyEdd1e]

16:55 : a lot of the Fukushima radiation is now all over the United States West Coast.

- Portland, OR alone is registering 100 dps of cesium concentrations

- Seattle has airborne radioactive aerosols 100,000 times higher than normal.

- San Diego had radioactive sodium over it just five days after the Fukushima accident

Prepare for the increase in thyroid cancer over the next few generations.

[sherri99516]

All nuclear reactors have to be banned! Otherwise it's just matter of time until we have the same problems as Japan. Our government has the same mentality as theirs, special interest rules over the welfare of the people. And the sad part of that is even over the peoples survival and their childrens survival. They are Godless, who else would feed off the living for a few coins of gold?

[SpaceMan131326]

@wepollock I have the real solution to help others, before more people die, I have a video coming, some thing real to help people

[ObsenityofAtomicTech]

Atomic steam is wealfare for the atomic bomb making industry of the cold war. As long as there is atomic steam making electicity , the DOD bomb makers get section 8 wealfare for the bomb making factorys. They get the raw material cheep and still stick it to us with the charges to us for the bombs we do not need or want.

[ObsenityofAtomicTech]

He is wrong about the vessel being the weak link. The weak link is the live atomic steam piping, the live atomic steam condensor, the live atomic steam turbines, the live atomic steam seals on every part of the system from the vessel head, to the turbine shafts seal packings. If the reactor vessel ever suffers from a depressurization like a high flying plane goes though, then a melt down just like Fukushima will happen, since once uncovered and unpressurized the fuel pile will melt down and burn