The varnished truth
Total of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan = 363
The calamity deepens but hope is on the way.
It's nearly a month since the carefully varnished flow of half-truths were emitted from Fukushima. The Japanese nuclear company TEPCO fell into the auto-pilot of 'reassure at all times' mode.
All bad news was announced with a good news slant. The world-wide nuclear army of nuclear persuaders cooed and soothed minimising all danger. The truth is that six reactors have been out of control leaking some of the most deadly substances known to humankind.
Last week TEPCO revealed that radiation levels from iodine-131 next to Reactor 2 were 7.5 million times the legal limit. The previous day levels in the water of caesium were 1.1 million times the legal limits. News outlets throughout the world added that the problem will be over in seven days. That's the half-life of iodine. Few mentioned that the half-life of caesium is 30 years. Reassurance flowed. The eventual verdict will be that TEPCO optimism made the situation worse by deterring international help.
Today a splendid document from 'No Need for Nuclear' arrived in the post. It's heartening to see that a well-informed campaign is fighting to end the mad rush to nuclear.
Greenpeace, FOE, Compass and other groups have combined to produce a detailed readable exposure of the waste and futility of our nuclear programme. They can be found at http://www.noneedfornuclear.org.uk/. Please drop in.