NH #133: SKY NOT FALLING! Debunking False Info w/Bonner of Safecast, German of RadCast

INTERVIEWS:  The holiday season saw rumors flying about Fukushima, radiation and elevated dangers in the U.S.  Wildly exaggerated claims got picked up by mainstream media and had people panicking.  Nuclear Hotseat gets to the root of the problems with Sean Bonner, one of the founders of Safecast.  He talks about how a radiation reading can be misinterpreted in and directly addresses the Internet video claiming Fukushima radiation had risen to life-threatening levels at a California beach. Here’s a link to the report referenced in the interview: http://blog.safecast.org/2014/01/radiation-on-california-beaches/

Then Mimi German of RadCast talks about the psychology of the anti-nuclear echo chamber and what we need to do to stay centered, grounded and accurate in interpreting radiation numbers.

NUMNUTZ OF THE WEEK:  Japan’s Monju nuclear breeder reactor picks up computer virus in control room.  Oy! 

PLUS:

• Fukushima prefectural government and Fukushima Medical University sign secrecy pact with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA);
• TEPCO restructures so it can still make money while continuing to fumble the Fukushima Daiichi clean-up;
• Plutonium dump with levels 1,000 times normal found in Pacific Ocean 50 miles west of San Francisco;
• Russia banned shipments of more than 130 radioactive cars from Japan in 2013;
• Ireland’s government and citizens now able to sue the UK over nuclear contamination, damages.

LINKS:

• Arnie Gundersen‘s report debunking rumors of new meltdown at Fukushima Unit 3:  http://fairewinds.org/demystifying/fukushima-daiichi-unit-3-going-explode
• Petition asking for leniency in the sentencing of peaceful anti-nuclear weapons protesters 84-year-old Sister Megan Rice – a Buddhist nun, Michael Walli and Gregory Boertje-Obed for their non-violent yet deeply embarrassing (to the government) protest at the Oak Ridge Site: http://act.rootsaction.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=9007