From the very first moment that it became apparent that things were starting to go horribly pear-shaped at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, the worldwide press has been fed a steady diet of carefully parsed, non-panicky, 'don't worry, nothing to see here' type of press releases. All of them couched in language that has tried to paint the brightest of smiles onto what was in reality a truly dire situation. It didn't matter who was doing the talking, the Japanese government, or the real culprits, the power company, they were both talking out of their backsides. I figured it out thusly, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) would say something, the experts would call bullshit, and the following day TEPCO would confirm what the experts had said the day before. Best case, these lying bastards were giving themselves about a 36 hour window before confirming someone else's theory about their latest obsfucation. Nice. It's not like we're dealing with anything dangerous you know..
Even in the best case scenario this wasn't going to be an easy or quick fix. The problem is that with this sort of material you don't just put the fire out, send in the cleaners, give everything a nice fresh coat of paint, rename the power plant, and tell everyone to move along. Not really. This shit stays hot for a very, very long time. And it stays seriously nasty for even longer.
The one thing that has been constant throughout this whole debacle is that it continues to get worse, but you had to read between the lines to be able to figure that out. Initially exclusion zones were fairly small, but then, each day they kept on being expanded a little further out, and then a little further still. Then we were told that there were 'minor' explosions at the plant, 'small' fires, 'minor' releases of radioactive steam, and eventually 'partial' meltdowns. None of which, we were assured, was anything to really worry about. Well now might be a good time to start. Radioactive particles from the plant have now been monitored as far away as Glasgow in Scotland, which is not good (except that the sheep will now glow in the dark making it easier for randy Scotsmen to find their dates for the evening), and even China has started to get concerned about radioactive goods coming into their country and sending them back. You know you are in deep shit if your products are too toxic for even the Chinese to consume...
The wider impact is just beginning to come into focus as we have had steadily increasing radioactive readings further and further from the plant, and now comes news that radiation levels outside the plant are at levels that can kill you. This bodes ill not only for those brave souls currently sacrificing themselves in a desparate attempt to bring the plant under control, but for anyone that likes to breathe fresh air and eat food that doesn't microwave itself. The toll on the country of Japan and its citizens will likely be incredibly severe and will most likely be felt for many generations to come, the impact it has on the rest of the planet has yet to be determined. The one thing I do know for sure is that I won't be listening to a word anyone from TEPCO says about anything anytime soon..
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