Fukushima nuclear power plant; radioactive contamination, ecological impact, global implications

Fukushima nuclear power plant; radioactive contamination, ecological impact, global implications Days after the Fukushima plant's first explosion, Japan's leaders implore everyone to stay calm. Helicopters and water cannon were deployed to cool the reactors, and yet the situation remains critical. "Of course I do not think it will require as much manpower. There has been a lot of technological progress made over the last 30 years," said Vladislav Shurygin, a military expert for Zavtra newspaper. "Still, it is important to understand that the number of people who will have to operate in the affected area and who will be affected by radiation will be very large. That's because some things can only be done manually." In 1986, the Soviet Union mobilized thousands of people to battle the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. Japan now has the "Faceless 50" -- anonymous workers, putting themselves up against radiation, to keep the reactors from nuclear meltdown -- and the fate of millions now rests in the hands of a few dozen. "Certainly their lives are immediately at stake and clearly they have sacrificed any kind of long life. This is clearly an exposure that jeopardizes their immediate health," said Paul Gunter, Director of Beyond Nuclear's Reactor Oversight Project. The Soviet Union essentially ordered its citizens to sacrifice their lives when battling radiation in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster. But Japan is a democratic state, and the workers who remain at the ...
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