“The Faceless 50″

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “Workers Brave Radiation Risk at Failing Japan Reactors,” describes an increasingly worsening situation at the Fukushima nuclear power stations and shows how “the best-laid plans of mice and men” often come to nought.

Radiation carries such long-term effects, with some of the compounds from nuclear reactions having half-lifes of tens or even hundreds of years, that nuclear power is a very dangerous option and a poor alternative to oil-based economies. In Japan, we now have 50 people risking their lives to prevent a broader catastrophe with implications for thousands of people.

Tokyo Electric Power has now removed up to 700 emergency workers from the nuclear power stations due to the level of radiation increasing by the day. The attempt to cool the reactors with sea water is having a minimal effect at best as with each passing day we hear about new explosions and other negative developments. Fortunately, the winds have been blowing out towards the Pacific Ocean instead of south towards Tokyo, but weather prognosticators are predicting a change within just a few days.

Even U.S. troops, arriving for humanitarian reasons to help victims of the earthquake and tsunami, are reporting low-level contamination of their personnel. The nuclear catastrophe, meanwhile, is eclipsing the great suffering from the earthquake and tsunmai, where food and water remain scarce, and a search and rescue effort continues.