The media’s irresponsible exaggeration of the problem at the Fukushima nuclear plant

At an unpleasant-looking site called The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiller the blogger, named LC Jackboot, has a long article on the nuclear threat issue in Japan. It closes with three numbered points, of which this is the first:

The accidents no matter how scary they sound and are reported, are a fraction of the threat to the population there, compared to the immediate and serious threat from the earthquake and Tsunami, lack of shelter in freezing temperatures, lack of food, water and medical attention in addition to huge blackouts on the affected islands. The plants can’t blow-up and spread radiation all over the world. It’s absolutely ridiculous and in my opinion reckless for the news media to endlessly talk about this to the exclusion of the other very real problems. The term “meltdown” while scary sounding isn’t an awful situation as far as danger to the public. Three Mile Island did this and as we discussed it above, posed no real threat to the population. All of the issues being faced in Japan will diminish over the next week or so when the core and whatever portions that have melted are no longer producing significant amounts of decay heat and radiation. They are in that respect a self-limiting situation even without effective engineering fixes.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at March 17, 2011 10:48 AM | Send