Japan disaster
The first national team asked to establish a field hospital in earthquake-tsunami stricken Japan is from Israel. A joint team of the IDF and the Home Front Command that includes 50 doctors of various specialities, including Japanese-Hebrew translators, as well as 18 tons of equipment, including surgeries, tents, blankets, clothing, etc. left on Sat night March 26 for one of the ravaged areas of north eastern Japan. All of this was decided upon in cooperation with the Japanese Government thru the Japanese Ambassador to Israel. Both sides knew what they wanted and were able to agree very quickly. Israel has unfortunately great experience in facing such disasters, including in Greece, Turkey and Haiti. The Israeli Hospital set up in Haiti was the first, most complete and most effective one. The Americans there came to check it out to see how it was done. That is why the Japanese Government chose the Israeli offer as their first foreign field hospital.
The major problem still looming over Japan is the radioactive leak in the nuclear reactors at Fukushima. The situation has not been helped by mistakes in readings by the company that is monitoring the leaks. They have made errors of many orders of magnitude (in the millions) of tehe level of radioactive iodine in the water surrounding one of the reactors. This has unnerved many Japanese who don't know what to believe. Radioactive iodine is a breakdown product of uranium-235, the nuclear fuel that produces heat that causes water to boil. The presence of free radioactive-Iodine shows that the core has been exposed to the outside and so the breakdown products have escaped. But, the levels, if they are now correct, show that the release is limited, and although the consumption of water and vegetables grown outside in the Fukushima area have been banned, the situation is not nearly as bad as Chernobyl, where the whole reactor melted and released huge amounts of radioactive material.
In fact, noone has been killed by the nuclear breakdown at the Fukushima reactors, although some 20,000 people have been killed by the combination of the earthquake and the tsunami. We need to keep a sense of proportions. Those populations demonstrating against the use of nuclear power in Japan, Germany and elsewhere are over-reacting to the situation in Japan. Certainly the protection of the power plant at Fukushima was inadequate for the immense tsunami that hit it, and no doubt valuable lessons have been learnt. But, it is certainly premature to throw the baby out with the (radioactive) bath water.
The major problem still looming over Japan is the radioactive leak in the nuclear reactors at Fukushima. The situation has not been helped by mistakes in readings by the company that is monitoring the leaks. They have made errors of many orders of magnitude (in the millions) of tehe level of radioactive iodine in the water surrounding one of the reactors. This has unnerved many Japanese who don't know what to believe. Radioactive iodine is a breakdown product of uranium-235, the nuclear fuel that produces heat that causes water to boil. The presence of free radioactive-Iodine shows that the core has been exposed to the outside and so the breakdown products have escaped. But, the levels, if they are now correct, show that the release is limited, and although the consumption of water and vegetables grown outside in the Fukushima area have been banned, the situation is not nearly as bad as Chernobyl, where the whole reactor melted and released huge amounts of radioactive material.
In fact, noone has been killed by the nuclear breakdown at the Fukushima reactors, although some 20,000 people have been killed by the combination of the earthquake and the tsunami. We need to keep a sense of proportions. Those populations demonstrating against the use of nuclear power in Japan, Germany and elsewhere are over-reacting to the situation in Japan. Certainly the protection of the power plant at Fukushima was inadequate for the immense tsunami that hit it, and no doubt valuable lessons have been learnt. But, it is certainly premature to throw the baby out with the (radioactive) bath water.
posted by Jack Cohen at 4:03 PM
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