Bye Bye San Onofre Nuclear Reactor…….and what it does for YOU

Eons ago I lived in Orange County not too far from the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant. Visiting San Diego made you pass right by it when using the freeway. As a science teacher in high school, it always made me wonder if it were “safe”. The mechanics of an atomic bomb were well known – radioactive materials release “nuclear bullets” as they decay. An uncontrolled increasingly large chain reaction can be created – just as all the old science films showed- dropping one ping pong ball into thousands of mouse traps set with other ping pong balls. One ball hits a trap and now 2 balls hit 2 traps and 4 balls are loose , the 4 turning into 8 balls loose, etc. The heat and energy released in an atomic chain reaction results in an explosion.

But……the nuclear reactor in a power plant has control rods that drop into the chain reaction and absorb the excess “nuclear bullets” to slow the reaction down and there is a cooling system also. Therefore the reactor heats water which produces steam to turn turbines and make electricity safely.


But…. What if it somehow got out of control. What if the unthinkable happened? What if there were human error? What if what could go wrong, did go wrong? It kept flowing through my mind. And I lived nearby.


So in 1975 I sat down to put my fears into writing. This was before the internet, when communication was through books and magazines, newspapers, and television. With the confidence produced from having no knowledge of the book industry, I dedicated myself for several years to writing a fiction novel that expressed my ideas of what would happen if an earthquake hit a nuclear reactor facility and jammed the control rods so that the nuclear chain reaction could not be slowed down and an explosion would occur. In a moment of brilliance I entitled the fiction novel, “The Nuclear Catastrophe”.


Suprisingly, I had no trouble getting the novel published with a moderate advance, a few good reviews, sales to libraries across the United States. Then: nothing. Hard to make a living that way so I moved on in life. In fact I forgot all about that adventure until the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan. Strangely enough, 30+ years later, an earthquake had jammed the control rods of a nuclear plant and the plant had explosions and a meltdown, totally destroying the plant.


Out of curiosity, I googled the name of my novel. It was all over the internet being sold as a second hand used book. Since it had never been brought out as a paperback, nor the now the ever present EBook, I decided to re-enter the contentious fray over nuclear power. Is it safe? Is it sane? Is it cost effective? Does it increase cancer risk? And how else does it affect YOU.


While my critics abound, so do my supporters. (Reading the reviews on my Amazon page is like a nuclear war). But the bottom line is, Southern California has 20 MILLION people who would be affected by a Fukushima type nuclear disaster. With San Onofre mothballed and shut down, we are never going to have thousands of acres abandoned and uninhabitable, with buildings sitting vacant from contamination from a nuclear plant meltdown. We are never going to have to try and evacuate more people that the existing road structure can handle, enduring massive traffic jams that last for days as people and their vehicles are radiated. We are never going to have to face leaving all our possessions behind, to be looted, to be irradiated so that they are useless. We are never going to have to realize that our losses are not covered by insurance from our home policy or insurance from the nuclear plant company. We are never going to have to figure out where to evacuate (bearing in mind that states close their borders as may Mexico or Canada – who wants your radioactive car in their neighborhood?). We are never going to be faced with starting over after a nuclear catastrophe with no job, no home, no usable car, no possessions, and no prospects.


40% of the population of the United States lives within 50 miles of a nuclear reactor. Shutting down San Onofre is certainly called for as it sits in earthquake country and is an old plant with previous problems. And YOU have the chance to keep this type solution moving forward for other nuclear plants. So YOU do not have to be subjected to starting over with nothing, email your local legislators and your friends with your thoughts that the risk is not acceptable. There is too much risk to YOU, for too little reward.

In 2013 I am donating 50% of the proceeds from the sale of the updated EBook, “The Nuclear

Catastrophe” a fiction novel of survival, to a charity that benefits the forgotten victims of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Towns are still sitting vacant with contaminated soil pushed into large piles. The victims have not been compensated. Your purchase of 99 cents will help them.

In this Monday, March 4, 2013 photo, a warning sign for drivers is seen beside a roadway, near a pile of radiation-contaminated soil at the Tsushima Junior High School in Namie, outside the the nuclear exclusion zone surrounding the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Japan. Two years after a tsunami crippled the nuclear plant, towns surrounding it remain abandoned, too contaminated by radiation for residents to return for more than short visits. (AP Photo/Greg Baker

Kiwi TNT KIWI was an experimental nuclear-powered rocket engine. In this case "TNT" stands for "Transient Nuclear Test." This safety experiment was a deliberate burn-up of the reactor by a run-away chain reaction. The release of energy caused portions of the reactor to vaporize and the reactor to destroy itself.


Barbara Griffin Billig

Available for Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WDRWXY

Follow on twitter: @barbarabillig
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/barbarabillig/nuclearcatastrophes/
Web page: http://mysite.verizon.net/resrrmof/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/
Also published as: as THE DISQUIET SURVIVORS of The Nuclear Catastrophe in Paperback
Read an excerpt now:  http://bit.ly/pY8HxX

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stop a Mobile Chernobyl. No Fukushima Freeways

This is an URGENT Email sent to me:  It deserves immediate attention.  There is a deadline of May 24, 2013, for the public to comment.  It is my personal opinion that experienced scientists must make a unified decision on the problem of nuclear waste storage - not let the Congress of the United States pass a LAW.

Dear Friends,

As we have been reporting to you for several months (for example, in our April 17 letter about National Radioactive Waste Action Day [ http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5502/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=1244911 ]), the Senate Energy Committee has been working on new and comprehensive radioactive waste policy legislation.

The lead sponsors--Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN)--have now released a "discussion draft" of this legislation. You can read it and related documents on the Committee's website here [ http://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2013/4/senators-release-discussion-draft-of-comprehensive-nuclear-waste-legislation ].

In a somewhat unusual move, the Committee is accepting public comments on the draft bill. This is probably our final opportunity before a bill is formally introduced to make it clear: We will not accept "interim" storage of high-level radioactive waste; we will not accept our roads and railways burdened with thousands of casks of lethal nuclear waste moving to a "temporary" unsuitable location for the convenience of the nuclear power industry.
*Add your voice now. Tell the Committee here that "interim" storage is unacceptable. Stop a Mobile Chernobyl. No Fukushima Freeways.* [ http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5502/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=14113 ]

This discussion draft bill is modeled somewhat after the Department of Energy's Blue Ribbon Commission recommendations and on legislation introduced last Congress by retired Energy Committee chair Jeff Bingaman (D-NM). But unlike that bill, which linked an "interim" storage site
 to siting of a permanent repository, this discussion draft greatly weakens that link. And a separate proposal offered for comment by Sens. Feinstein and Alexander would weaken that linkage further. Without such linkage, the odds that any progress would be made toward a permanent solution to our radioactive waste problem grow slim indeed. Just the opposite; the absence of linkage makes it far more likely that a consolidated "interim" storage site would be a de facto permanent dump, regardless of whether it is suited for that.

The bill addresses issues beyond "interim" storage of waste; for example, taking the waste issue out of the Department of Energy and creating a new agency to handle the problem. But four of the eight questions the Committee asks for comment on address the "interim" storage issue, and our sample comments are limited to that issue. But please feel free to edit and expand on the sample letter provided on our action page. The eight questions are part of the documents available on the Senate Energy Committee's website.

In April, we provided several talking points on the radioactive waste issue; they are reproduced below. Feel free to adapt these if you choose to provide more extended comments than our sample letter. You can also find much more information and background about the issue on the Mobile Chernobyl page of our website here [ http://www.nirs.org/radwaste/hlwtransport/mobilechernobyl.htm ].

*Comments to the Committee are due by Friday, May 24, so act now.
* [ http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5502/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=14113 ]
Thanks for all you do,

Michael Mariotte
Executive Director
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
www.nirs.org [ http://www.nirs.org ]
nirsnet@nirs.org

NUCLEAR POLLUTION - April 22 is Earth Day

NUCLEAR POLLUTION

April 22 is Earth Day

Think you are worried about climate change? How about the earth warming with greenhouse gases and less water to share? Have you heard that Water Wars are being predicted as part of the future?

Well, how about a proliferation of nuclear weapons tests, spewing radioactive material into the air – the air we breathe, that comes out of the air when it rains, attaches to dust and blows with the winds. Then it falls over all our land where we grow crops and into the seas where fish ingest it - and we eat the fish.

And what about those older nuclear plants? The Fukushima nuclear disaster showed that a nuclear plant cannot invariably withstand an earthquake. Their nuclear rods became jammed and overheated to meltdown point. While many say the plant couldn't explode – look at the pictures. If that is not a total explosive disaster, then what is?

Fukushima after meltdown & explosion

                             CHERNOBYL (below)

 

The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine (Ukrainian SSR), which was under the jurisdiction of Moscow. An explosion and fire released large quantities of radioactive contamination into the atmosphere, which spread over Western USSR and Europe. It is considered the worst nuclear power accident in history

And the radioactive material went EVERYWHERE- to circulate around the earth, through winds and water.

40% of the population of the United States is said to reside within 50 miles of a nuclear reactor. The world has now been exposed to 3 major nuclear disasters – 3 mile Island in the United States (that reactor never operated again), Chernobyl (it is contaminated, deserted, and a total disaster), and Fukushima (still not stabilized and could become worse). Then there are the minor disasters – Hanford, Washington has 240 square miles of contamination that will take billions of dollars and multi, multi years to clean up, if it even can be. The United States government had to be sued to admit there was even a problem – such as excessive deaths from cancer in the area.

Would you drive a 40 year old car 24 hours a day, non-stop? San Onofre, Ca. managed to get a new system put into its old plant. That system didn't go through a required change check, and now is closed down because it did not work properly, there was excessive vibration in the pipes, and finally was leaking radioactive materials. The owners are looking to the utility consumers to pay big bucks for all the mistakes and down time. If the reactor starts back up with the poorly designed system that was installed, it has been predicted that it could have a major accident while running.

One of the most contaminated towns in the world is challenging what we think we know about the dangers of radioactivity. No one has lived longer on contaminated terrain than people in the village of Muslumovo in the southern Russian Urals located downstream from the Maiak plutonium plant, built 1948 to produce soviet bomb cores.

The Techa River in Russia became a flowing radioactive reservoir in 1949 when engineers at the plutonium plant ran out of underground storage containers for high-level radioactive waste. A Dixie cup of this waste could kill everyone in a large ballroom. Compelled by the arms race, the plant director ordered it dumped in the Techa River. The men running the plant didn’t tell anyone about this decision. The 28,000 Russian, Bashkir, and Tatar farmers living on the river—drinking, cooking, and bathing with river water—had no idea. In the 1950s and ’60s special forces resettled most of the 16 contaminated villages on the Techa, but a few villages were too large and expensive to move, so they stayed. Muslumovo is one.

Plutonium plant doctors came up with a new disease, diagnosed, so far, only in the Russian Urals—chronic radiation syndrome (CRS), caused by extended exposure to low doses of radioactive isotopes. The first young plant workers diagnosed with the syndrome complained of headaches, sharp pains in bones and joints, and a constant weariness. One memoirist described the terrible ache of CRS as a pain that made him “want to crawl up the walls.” They lost weight. Their gait slowed. They suffered severe anemia, wheezed heavily, and started to show signs of heart disease.(1)

We have not found a place that is deemed safe to store the nuclear waste that is being produced.. And it is obvious that these few incidents discussed here are just a small smattering of what has happened in the past and what is going on today. Please visit my page of pictures to get a better idea of some of the past nuclear folly we have participated in: http://pinterest.com/barbarabillig/nuclear-catastrophes/ .

So why do we proceed with building and repairing of nuclear plants? Who benefits from all this? The big buck business players who are guaranteed a return on their invested dollars which is paid for by the consumers of electricity as approved by their government. Not many people that start up a business are guaranteed a return, but utility companies are. Current interest rates at the bank are about 1% (if that). Utility companies are guaranteed a certain return by their respective governments that allows them to bill the consumers something in the neighborhood of 5 to 10 percent return on their investment.

It is unkind that the consumers are paying exorbitant prices for their utilities, but to get nuclear pollution along with that is totally intolerable. And so are the nuclear tests that spread nuclear pollution, the nuclear submarines that now lie broken at the bottom of the oceans, the nuclear wastes that leak out of facilities, and on and on.

Some are calling it a War without a war.

April 22 is Earth Day.  Think what you can do to help the earth and its inhabitants to survive in a better world.  I have pledged to donate 50% of the proceeds from the sale of my EBook to charity in the year  2013 to benefit the victims of Fukushima, who are largely forgotten and ignored. The purchase of this fiction novel of survival, "The Nuclear Catastrophe" is only 99 cents.

 

This novel may be purchased  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WDRWXY

 

Please visit  my web page to vote for the charity http://mysite.verizon.net/resrrmof/

Thank you!  Barbara Billig

 


(1)http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2013/04/nuclear_contamination_in_former_ussr_radioactivity_in_muslomovo_on_techa.html (excerpt by Kate Brown)

WORSE THAN IMAGINABLE

Now that the two year anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe in Japan has come and passed, I was shocked at the immensity of this disaster – and that's after writing a book 30 years ago predicting it was going to happen. When Fukushima occurred, I googled the name of my novel (The Nuclear Catastrophe, a fictional tale of survival), knowing it was out of print. But the original hardcover version was still being sold as a used book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and even survival sites on the web.

So, why am I so shocked? Because I always want to believe in the best. I talked to many scientists who assured me that the radiation release was “minimal”. I asked these scientists what they would do if they lived near a nuclear plant that had this kind of disaster and most said “nothing”. But now we are seeing printed statements & photographs in the news that there are cities in Japan that may not be inhabitable for five years, or 15 years, or a generation, or never. And the evacuated occupants sit waiting for help or compensation.

These people even abandoned possessions and their vehicles when they left – why? Because the metal objects became radioactive from the release of radioactive materials when the nuclear plants were destroyed. They probably had to leave their metal jewelry and coins behind also. And, there would not have been enough time to pack up and efficiently move out. It was grab and run. (When I was faced with a fire at my home I took the stupidest things). Funny what panic does to you. And there is no general insurance policy that covers loss from nuclear accidents or attacks. Nuclear is excluded.

Perhaps I shouldn't be shocked since Hanford, Washington is 240 square miles in the USA that is the most polluted site in the nation from radioactive materials. It will probably never the inhabitable in our lifetimes, or even the next. But I was in denial that it could have been this bad – everyone was assuring that the radioactive materials had blown out to sea and there was no cause to worry.

So the question is.....why would anyone in any nation want to expose themselves to this type of risk? Nuclear Power certainly is not the most cost effective way to generate electricity. Or perhaps it is because you don't live very close to a plant? N. Korea is getting ready (so they say) to attack the United States with nuclear warheads carried by their missiles. A nuclear strike would have the same effect as a nuclear plant catastrophe, or an atom bomb. So when you hear the slogan “No More Nuclear” it's like trying to institute gun control. Only this needed control is of something that can kill many more thousands of people and cause permanent destruction of our land.

I blog, I tweet, I have signed the Greenpeace Petition to raise the liability for the nuclear problems that are caused by the corporations that build the equipment. I have pledged to donate 50% of the proceeds on my Ebook, “The Nuclear Catastrophe”, a fiction novel of survival, to charity for 2013, for the benefit of the survivors of Fukushima. I hope you will help by purchasing this novel for 99 cents at Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WDRWXY

FREE: "THE NUCLEAR CATASTROPHE" A FICTION NOVEL OF SURVIVAL

March 11, 2013 is the two year anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe. So that we not forget this horrendous lesson of man-made destruction, I am making my EBook, "The Nuclear Catastrophe", a fictional tale of survival, FREE for March 9, 10, 11. While it is set in Southern California rather than Japan, it eerily predicted the devastation that these plants could cause.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. And I have had people say that this fictional novel could NEVER actually happen.  So please visit my pinterest site: 'Nuclear Catastrophes' and see pictures of actual melted down reactors, explosions, and the Fukushima area, still deserted and empty TWO YEARS LATER.

                               http://pinterest.com/barbarabillig/nuclear-catastrophes/

I hope you will share this free giveaway with your friends.  For the year 2013 I will donate 50% of the proceeds from the sale of the EBook to a charity that supports the survivors and families of the Fukushima catastrophe. Most of these people have not yet been compensated for the loss of their homes and jobs.  If you have a charity to propose, please visit my web page http://mysite.verizon.net/resrrmof/ and add your comment to my guest book.

To download your FREE COPY:     Go to: 

                               Amazon Page for "The Nuclear Catastrophe" a fiction tale of survival

"The Nuclear Catastrophe" can be  downloaded  to a kindle, pc, tablet, or smartphone.  Amazon will even provide free kindle software for the pc, tablet, and smartphones.

Nuclear is very much appearing in the news these days.  Not only are the nuclear reactors being debated, but North Korea is threatening  the United States with a nuclear strike.  Substitute 'nuclear strike by missile' for 'exploding nuclear reactor' and the results are the same.....a catastrophe as described in this novel.

Thanks, and I wish it were just fiction. 

March 11, 2013 - 2 Year Anniversary of Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe

From: Aslihan Tumer, Greenpeace International 

Dear  Barbara,

Today I'm writing to you about the Fukushima nuclear disaster because I need your support. First, try to imagine being forced to abandon your home so quickly that you cannot even return to warn your neighbours and friends to evacuate. Then imagine being told you may not be able to live in your home again for decades. It is too dangerous, there is too much radiation. That is what happened to some 160,000 people because of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. For the past two years these people have lived in limbo: not able to return, not able to start a new life, bearing the burden of the nuclear industry's disaster which the Red Cross calls an "ongoing humanitarian crisis".

Before this email you may never have heard of General Electric, Hitachi and Toshiba's connection to this disaster. But these three famous companies were closely involved in the design, construction and servicing of the Fukushima nuclear reactors, which experienced multiple failures and three full meltdowns almost two years ago.

Then these companies walked away from the disaster without being held accountable, including without paying any of the cost - estimated at 250 billion US dollars.

This situation is completely unjust and must change. If you agree, please join us in taking action.

General Electric, Hitachi and Toshiba are nuclear supplier companies who have left the Japanese people, especially the victims of Fukushima, to bear the burden of this nuclear disaster. In comparison with the zero dollars these companies have paid, the Japanese people have already paid 43.7 billion US dollars worth of public money.

The nuclear industry profits while creating huge nuclear risk, but people pay the price for this risk. This is partly because of flawed nuclear liability laws which prioritise the profits of the industry over the health and safety of the public by exempting nuclear supplier companies from paying for nuclear disasters. The situation in Japan is not an exception, nuclear liability laws are like this in most countries. The nuclear industry needs to be accountable just like any other industry in the world. The solution is simple "The polluter must pay."

You can help change this unfair situation - please help us build awareness of this issue and spread the word!

Thank you for supporting our work,

Aslihan

I WONDERED WHAT TO SAY

Last year I read an article in the Orange County Register regarding San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant and its problems (released radioactive materials into the atmosphere in an accident – not good). I thought the article was well written and I contacted the writer. He asked me to send him a copy of my book, “The Nuclear Catastrophe” (a fiction novel of suspense and survival). I did and then did not hear from him until last month.

He emailed me and said he enjoyed the book, but did not really know what to say in regards to the book. He said he enjoyed it but had concerns what readers would think since it was originally written in 1977. Since I had recently updated the manuscript to a 3^rd edition, bringing in cell phones and computers and ATMs (none of which will work without electricity to power the cell towers and internet transformers, and electrical machinery of the ATM) I informed him of this and a new updated copy was emailed to him.

Then we discussed whether people could really carry radioactive materials and be dangerous to others as presented in the book. If an explosion or other release of radioactive materials from a storage facility or nuclear power plant, or nuclear bomb took place the materials would be released into the atmosphere and slowly drift down with dust & rain, onto people and animals, soil and water. They take many years to decay and go away, sometimes hundreds of years. Decay means releasing invisible atomic bullets that can penetrate skin and bodies, just as x-rays and the sun rays do (remember those bad sunburns?) 

And finally, could a nuclear plant really be destroyed completely? I invited him to take a look at: http://pinterest.com/barbarabillig/nuclear-catastrophes/ where pictures of Fukushima-Daiichi and Chernobyl nuclear power plants before and after their accidents are posted. That is complete destruction.

But the basic question of “what to say” never really got answered. I pondered about what statement I would like to see made. And I think it is this:

Thirty-five years ago, as a science teacher living near San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant, I was concerned that an event (such as an earthquake) could trigger a series of reactions that would lead to large amounts of radioactive materials being released in the atmosphere and water. I wrote a fiction novel to bring attention to a potential problem – which proved to be true, i.e. Fukushima.

All human beings should be made aware of the aftermath of a nuclear bomb, nuclear power plant explosion or leak, or nuclear waste dumps.

Besides the fact that human beings make mistakes (operator error), many of the nuclear power plants are now approaching the 40 year old mark. This 40 years is about their life span and makes them prone to failures. Many new nuclear power plants are being built outside of the United States, especially in 3^rd world countries but they will one day be 40 years old, too. All human beings are subject to their failure as the oceans, rivers, and atmospheres will carry their deadly toxic radioactive materials around the world to all of us.

At the time Jane Fonda was looking for a script regarding nuclear catastrophes, she met with me and took away a copy of my novel. She ultimately chose “The China Syndrome” which was an excellent movie, but only went up to the fact that there was an explosion, and did nothing to deal with what would happen after the fact. The consequences after the fact are worse than the actual initial disaster.

We should all be aware of the legacy we are leaving for the rest of our lives and to those after us.