Anarchist Mikhail Bakunin 30 May 1814- 1 July 1876

Wednesday Morning EDT/
Wednesday Evening Japan Time
Predicament Update

With some words from Anarchist Atheist Mikhail Bakunin.
(Next time we shall entertain the thoughts of Anarchist Christian Nicolai Berdyaev.)

"We see that the richest property owners . . . are precisely those who work the least or who do not work at all."

Yesterday Japanese authorities were able to stanch the flow of highly radioactive water from plant 2 directly into the ocean by injecting liquid glass into the leaks at the maintenance pits. But before we just accept this news as a trumpeted victory over radiation let's just do a thought experiment.
The question must be asked: Where is that water going now? I have noticed from experience repairing roofs that when one stops a leak in one area, the water must go someplace else. Where is that someplace else at Fukushima Daiichi? If it backs up into the plant authorities will eventually be forced to pump it into the sea anyways. If it backs up onto the land around the plant it will drain into the sea eventually.

Lonely rivers flow to the sea,
to the sea
to the open arms of the sea
lonely rivers sigh 'wait for me, wait for me'
I'll be coming home wait for me

-from 'Unchained Melody' lyrics by Hy Zaret (Hyman Harry Zaritsky), music Alex North

"It has been proven 8 thousand times that an isolated worker cannot produce much more than what he consumes. We challenge any real worker, any worker who does not enjoy a single privilege, to amass tens or hundreds of thousands of francs, or millions. That would be quite impossible. Therefore, if some individuals in present-day society do acquire such great sums, it is not by their labor that they do so but by their privilege, that is, by a juridically legalized injustice. And since a person inevitably takes from others whatever he does not gain from his own, we have the right to say that all such profits are thefts of collective labor, committed by a few privileged individuals with the sanction of the State and under its protection."

Fukushima prefecture fishermen are rightly demanding that TEPCO stop dumping radioactive water into the sea. Fish from the area are measuring in excess of the new safe levels set by the government. I agree with the fishermen's desire to have TEPCO stop dumping  radiation into the sea but the problem with the nuclear genie is that he won't go back into the bottle once the bottle is broke. TEPCO can't stop radiation from going into the sea or into the air at this point. This should have been understood when the decision was made to build a nuclear power plant. The fishermen protested specifically the decision to deliberately pour irradiated water into the sea. That water was going into the sea anyways lads. When you are pouring millions of gallons on several damaged locations in a huge nuclear complex to prevent meltdowns and spent rod flareups, there is no way to control where the overflow goes.
The only solution to this problem would be to get a gigantic Star Trek like transporter device and send the whole area into a star. But that might have unforseen consequences too. And, as far as I know, we do not have such a device.

"The modern State, as we have said, has freed itself from the yoke of the Church and consequently has shaken off the yoke of universal or cosmopolitan morality of the Christian religion, but it has not yet become permeated with the humanitarian idea or ethics - which it cannot do without destroying itself, for in its detached existence and isolated concentration the State is much too narrow to embrace, to contain the interests and consequently the morality of, humanity as a whole."

The New York Times got hold of a confidential assessment of the nuclear disaster from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Needless to say, it don't look good.
For example:
Water filling the buildings will put further stress on the structures allowing water to leave the building easier.
Water stress on the buildings make them vulnerable to more damage from aftershocks or future earthquakes.
More hydrogen explosions are possible in the buildings due to release of the gas from water in the nuclear cores.
No one knows how much the salt and molten materials in the cores are interfering with cooling the cores.
Long term safety of workers at the site is "challenging".
If the cores cannot be efficiently cooled unwanted criticality could lead to molten radioactive cores for a long time.
It is unknown if the tactic of pouring water on nuclear cores to cool them can be carried on indefinitely since this is an unknown and unforeseen situation.
Explosions spread chunks of highly radioactive material from spent fuel rods up to one mile from the site. These materials have had to be bulldozed over so workers could more safely do what they do.
Have a nice day.

"Anyone who makes plans for after the revolution is a reactionary."


President Hiroaki Nakanishi of Hitachi Ltd, which is partnered with General Electric in the nuclear business, said today, "It is impossible for Japan to stop using nuclear power" while admitting the events of the past month will have a considerable impact on profits, according to the Wall Street Journal.


"If you pull a sapling out of the ground, cut off all the leaves, and branches and make it into a club, you cannot expect to plant it back in the ground and have it grow into a beautiful tree..." Bakunin to Marx