History has repeated itself in Japan, just within one year. At first there was an explosion (the tsunami) and then there was an oil leak (radiation) which turned into a full grown spill disaster ( nuclear reactor meltdown and severe radiation). But most of all, most of all there was the cover-up.
The Japanese government has had problems because it could only get superficial, vaguely incomplete information from the company that owns the reactors. Sound familiar?
Well they had those 13 back up pumps—which one would think the Japanese should have known would all fail if there was a serious tsunami.
Last night I heard CNN reporters repeat the official line that the tsunami disabled the pumps needed to cool the reactors, implying that water unexpectedly got into the diesel generators that run the pumps.
These safety back-up systems are the 'EDGs' in nuke-speak: Emergency Diesel Generators. That they didn't work in an emergency is like a fire department telling us they couldn't save a building because "it was on fire."
AND that reminds me of those BP emergency shut-off valves, which weren't invested in because of the expense. What can I say: it's not just in America.
Postscript: Just saw a great commentary at Bartcop's website: "Nobody believes that all the backup systems failed....They gambled, like BP in the Gulf, and they got caught." You can say that again, Bart.
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