March 23, 2011

To the Media:

The Tsunami that hit Japan was a catastrophe of epic proportions. Some of the consequences were expected: a population working together to mitigate the effects; a population that is not looting; a population demonstrating the intrinsic value of personal honor.

Other consequences were less expected: the American press focusing on how dangerous Nuclear Power is; American money changer's worrying over how the catastrophe will impact their profits; demonstration of so many in America devoid of honor.

We see the same thing repeated: the liberal media adhering to Rahm Emanuel's philosophy of “never let a serious crisis go to waste”.

I spent six years in the 1960's in the U.S. Navy's Shore-based Nuclear Power Program where I operated or serviced three different nuclear power plants. I was routinely exposed to low levels of radiation and have suffered no harm as a result.

So let me explain the reality. A typical non-nuclear person receives about 360mrem of radiation a year. If they smoke, that number jumps to 640mrem.

If they were at the 3 Mile Island Plant accident, they received 80mrem. No one got harmed by radiation at that event.

It takes exposure of about 50 thousand mrem to cause blood count changes and the mortality threshold is about 150 thousand mrem.

However, 10mrem exposure increases the risk of developing cancer by 1 in a million. But then, so does smoking 2 cigarettes, eating 40 tablespoons of peanut butter, or spending two days in New York City's air pollution.

So please, let's keep the situation in Japan in perspective. Reactor containment is intact and control rods were deployed which shut down fissioning. The probability that radioactive decay heat is sufficient to cause the reactor core to melt through the containment is practically zero.

And there is simply no way for the uranium to explode in a nuclear event. The configuration makes that impossible.

The pools containing spent fuel rods will not blow up either. They may melt and there may be some airborne radiation as a result but it is nothing like Chernobyl.

So act like real journalists and stop the public displays of doomsday speculation, you're scaring my grandchildren unnecessarily!

Rex A. Hoover
Sumerduck