TEPCO Dodges Chernobyl In Japan, Now Wants Cover Up...IAEA Coming To Town

So, it is official...Japan, which just missed (by shear luck) an accident as big, if not bigger than Chernobyl, but in some ways on a par with Three Mile Island, is allowing TEPCO to start the GREAT COVER UP. It was made official today, that the IAEA is coming to town to do the FAKE INSPECTION of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Facility, after which, various officials and dignitaries from the IAEA, the Japanese Federal Government (prime minister), and of course the president of TEPCO will trot out to the news cameras and announce ALL IS WELL, and that the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Plant presents no immediate danger to human health or the environment. The NRC will claim to have read the inspection report, and Neil Sheehan will announce to the American Press that all is well, and the time to restart the seven trouble plagued reactors is at hand. Sam Collins will be by his side to falsely claim that the TEPCO inspection should now alleviate any worries the citizens of Westchester County have about Entergy's failing Indian Point reactors that also sit on, or very close to a fault line. Life will be back to normal, and the IAEA will have saved NEI's dearly beloved Nuclear Renaissance.

Sadly, in the world of 30 second sound bites, and the 24 hour news cycle, there is a very good chance the nuclear industry will get away with this nefarious ruse, will sweep structural integrity issues under the radioactive carpet, and go back to business as usual. The citizens of Japan will go back to living their lives unaware their risk of a second nuclear holocaust has just been greatly increased, the radioactive fallout but one MAJOR earthquake away. Only after a major accident kills more people than died at Hiroshima will the real truth be known, will the cover up find the light of day.

NISA (Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency) of the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry will convey the government decision to the Vienna-based U.N. agency Monday asking that the IAEA begin the inspections as soon as possible...because, after all, money is more important than safety, and even before the inspection has started, even before a serious estimate of the damages and safety risks is known, Japan's prime minister is already admitting that the plant will not stay shut forever, even if it does sit on a fault line. If that bit of news does not whisper of a cover up in the making, nothing does. If the inspection and findings are going to be completely open and transparent, how can officials in Japan already be hinting to the news media that the plant will reopened at some future date and time?

Does not take a rocket scientist to do some basic math, and quickly come to the conclusion that a Nuclear Renaissance demands the truth of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Facility accident be buried, that the seven troubled reactors be put back online as soon as possible. Seven nuclear reactors taken permanently off line, scientific proof that reactors such as Indian Point are subject to destruction if a major earthquake hits would be more than enough to see Wall Street close its wallets to the nuclear industry, and the IAEA, NRC, DOE and the NEI all know this, as does the Prime Minister of Japan...in short, doing the right thing takes a second seat too the financial realities in the energy sector.

Numerous bloggers, and some news sources have readily admitted that Japan dodged a bullet this time round. Many communities here in America have accused the NRC of playing Russian Roulette with public health and safety as they rubber stamp the license renewal applications of America's aging fleet of failing reactors. At some point, probably sooner than later that bullet is going to hit its target, some community will forever be a radiative wasteland far worse than Chernobyl, far worse than even Hiroshima. The world needs the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Facility accident to be a wake up call that nuclear is not safe, it is not green, and it is not the answer to Global Warming...question is, will the press let that happen, or will they allow themselves and their news organizations to be bought off for 35 pieces of silver?