Thousands evacuate as Fukishima nuclear emergency is declared

[Peter Lemkin]

Yeah, Grand Idiot is a must on the CV of any leader - corporate or governmental, etc.

They are so desperate now, I just heard they have asked old retired nuclear plant workers to come back to work [with large monetary incentive] immediately - the 'theory' being that they will die of natural causes soon, and not from the high radiation, as will all the younger workers. One doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.... They are now making people into Nuclear Kamokazis!

It is the shareholders and managers and the people responsible for building this insane death emitting clusterfuck who should be there cleaning up. Give them a radiation proof suit and 'Nuclear Catastrophe Clean Up for Idiots' instruction book and drop them in the zone and let them go for it. There are limits to company loyalty.

I'm afraid the Corporate Masters don't have a 'the Captain must go down with the ship' mentality. It would be significant to see the head of the Power company involved and his board of Directors and any big shareholders actually at the Nuclear Plant working on it - I'm quite sure the best you can hope for [sic] is after the meltdown and a number of immediate radiation deaths a Japanese bow of contrition and a few mumbled words of 'sorry Charlie' in Japanese.......

...as far as 'news' on the nuclear plant, they are as I type using riot-control water cannons to try to spray water onto the tops of the most endangered reactors. Watching it, it looks like it will, at best, be only mildly successful. They also think that by the end of today they will have the electric power back on....but I'd not hold my breath. Even if they do get power back, it remains to be see if any of the pumps and other equipment is still in working condition, after all it has now been through [earthquakes, tsunami, overheating from partial meltdowns, who-knows-what-else]. Nuclear Plant equipment is sensitive to all of those and as Pallast pointed out [above] the emergency generators are well known [when they start or work at all] to breakdown soon after, due to lack of maintenance and testing [as they usually remain off continuously from installation until emergency. If they haven't been maintained properly, they may not start or soon break down. Ditto if damaged by overheating. I have NOT seen any reliable figures on radiation levels near the plant or in the plume coming from the Plant. I pity those workers now on site there!.....