TOP STORIES
INSTANT HALL OF FAME: Japanese Nuke Catastrophe
As the only nation to be A-bombed*, Japan has a unique perspective on nuclear power. Although most Americans associate
"Godzilla" with campy science fiction, there was a clear message embedded in the original 1954 film. Although the U.S. version was sanitized, the "radiation monster" was an intentional and apocalyptic allegory for Hiroshima and the U.S.- Soviet arms race. At the time, the two were engaged in a frenzy of blowing off bombs on the ground, in the air and beneath the sea. It was these explosions that awakened and mutated Godzilla, sending him off to crush Tokyo with his atomic breath. The possibility of a meltdown at a nuke built near a fault line by all means "points up" man's folly, no matter how ingenious their engineers.
(1) RADIOACTIVE RODENTS ESCAPE HANFORD: Welcome to the future: A radioactive mouse has escaped from the grounds of Hanford, the decommisioned nuclear complex in southeastern Washington state. After catching a radioactive rabbit on the Hanford nuclear reservation, cleanup workers are now hunting for a radioactive mouse. The radioactive mouse droppings have been found in the same area where the radioactive rabbit droppings were found earlier this month north of Richland. The radioactive rabbit was killed and disposed of as radioactive waste. Officials believe the animals ate or drank cesium at a Hanford site.
In 2009 there were 33 cases of contaminated animal material found on the 586 square-mile nuclear reservation site. Reports from the Associated Press and other mainstream sources.
Meanwhile (November 2010), Hanford cleanup workers discovered an area of soil so radioactive it exceeds lethal limits tenfold.
