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Papers
- A Meltdown at a Nuclear Power Plant (MSNBC News)
"Experts on nuclear power say that the seriousness of the Fukushima Dai-ichi currently rates somewhere between Pennsylvania's 1979 Three Mile Island incident, in which the reactor's core melted down halfway but was kept contained within the facility; and the 1986 Chernobyl incident in Ukraine, in which a raging, uncontained fire spread radioactive contamination throughout Europe." 03-11
- Expert: U.S. Not at Risk from Japanese Radiation (CBS News)
"Dr. Glenn Braunstein, of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, sees patients with thyroid cancer -- one of the biggest risks from radiation exposure of a nuclear meltdown. He says the 5,500 miles between the U.S. and the nuclear plant in Japan is more than a safe distance." 03-11
- Truth Hard to Determine in Japanese Nuclear Plant Crisis (Time.com)
"Each day at the stricken Fukushima power plant seems to bring a new piece of troubling news—today, reports surfaced that three workers at the Fukushima plant had been hospitalized after radiation levels reported at the plant spiked to '10,000 times above normal.' There were also reports that the No. 3 reactor vessel had been damaged, which if true would result in a serious leak of radiation at the only reactor at the site that contains the especially-toxic MOX fuel."
"The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists reported that the three hospitalized workers were the first radiation-exposure injuries at Fukushima, contradicting earlier reports suggesting some workers showed symptoms of radiation sickness. The IAEA seemed to confirm this, stating that the number of workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant found to have received more than 100 millisieverts of radiation dose totaled 17 including the three contract workers. Again, 100 millisieverts is not nearly a high enough dosage to cause acute radiation sickness--that requires a dose of at least 1,000 milliesierverts."
"Many outside experts have begun openly criticizing both TEPCO and the Japenese government for the lack of transparency and reliable information about the Fukushima crisis. It's an admittedly frenzied and difficult time for TEPCO and Japanese nuclear safety officials, but it's also difficult to disagree with the sentiment of Najmedin Meshkati, a USC engineering professor who has advised U.S. agencies on nuclear safety issues; he told the LA Times, 'Information sharing has not been in the culture of Tepco or the Japanese government. This issue is larger than one utility and one country. It is an international crisis.' " 3-11
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