Saturday, April 26, 2014

What About Chernobyl ???

There is a huge project underway to place a "new safe confinement" structure over the damaged No. 4 reactor building at Chernobyl, which is in Ukraine:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_New_Safe_Confinement

How will this be impacted by the current crisis in Ukraine and the US-inspired economic sanctions? The funding for the structure apparently comes from Europe. Ukraine would never by itself be able to finish this project.

Update: The New York Times has just published a very good summary of the Chernobyl accident and the construction of the new safe confinement structure (arch):

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/04/27/science/chernobyl-capping-a-catastrophe.html

Anyone care to guess why we haven't heard much about this until now? My assessment is that this sob story is being pitched now only because of the crisis in Ukraine. Although finishing this arch is a great idea, its cost should be born by those who benefit most from it ... and that means Europe and Ukraine, NOT the American taxpayer.

By the way ... as the article states, this arch should last 300 years. The radioactive contamination, however, will last thousands if not millions of years. Technology, especially nuclear energy and fracking for methane, is creating dangerous side effects which may destroy the ability of this planet to support life. As long as we're going to drink the climate change Kool-Aid, we better come up with a better energy strategy than the return of nuclear power and the widespread mining of methane and tar sands.

Do you recall my previous quote from Zbig?

Today, it is infinitely easier to kill a million people than to control a million people.

http://sainthoward.blogspot.com/2014/04/thought-for-day_2.html

Expand that thought to a global scale in the perspective of climate change. Which is going to be easier: for our currently ineffective governments to force 7+ billion people to significantly change their way of life to fight climate change ... or for the global ruling class to just kill all of us after they perfect the robotic systems they need to continue their kingly lifestyles without us?

Think about it. To whom do "our" leaders listen: to people like Zbig, or to us?

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