Chernobyl: The Day After

Chernobyl Happened Yesterday!

City of Chernobyl had managed to live for 793 years…

Reactor number 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded on April 26, 1986 at about 1:00am local time.  The explosion killed at least  four plant employees instantly.

By the time  residents of Pripyat, a town located near the plant, were ordered to evacuate, about two days after the Chernobyl core meltdown had occurred, many had already been exposed to varying doses of radiation poisoning.

Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant underwent a core meltdown [center] in 1986 with disastrous consequences. This image was taken by authorities in the former Soviet Union

The Incident: A meltdown of the reactor’s core in the Chernobyl power plant killed thirty people in 1986. About 135,000 people were evacuated. It is believed that about one hundred times more radiation was released in the accident than by the atom bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Legacy: More than 4000 cases of thyroid cancer were diagnosed among children and adolescents between 1992 to 2002 in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Victims under 14 years were most severely affected by the elevated concentrations of radioiodine found in milk.

Incidents of skin lesions, respiratory ailments, infertility and birth defects were readily found among the more than five million people who inhabit the affected areas of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine for many years following the accident.

Disputed Facts: The above facts, however, have been disputed by a number of individuals including the author of a recent WHO report, and the retired “nukophile” British academic, James Lovelack. Local and international experts, however, have dismissed the WHO report findings. A UN report released in 2005 estimated the number of victims at just 4,000. Their figure is hotly disputed  by NGOs and independent experts.

“A report by Alexey Yablokov, Vassily Nesterenko and Alexey Nesterenko which appeared in the Annals of the New York Academy of Science showed that by 2004, there were 985,000 additional deaths worldwide caused by the nuclear disaster, including 212,000 of them within Western Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.”

The Poisoned land. Up to 5 million people continue to live on radioactive contaminated land. About 85% of the children who live in contaminated areas of Belarus today are ill, a near 6-fold increase compared to the time before the explosion (15%), according to The Belarusian National Academy of Sciences.

Chernobyl and Other Nuclear Stats

• More than 95% of the radioactive material (180 metric tons with a radioactivity of about 18 million curies) still remains inside the Chernobyl reactor.
• Immediately after the accident, 237 people suffered from acute radiation sickness, and 31 died within the first 90 days of the disaster.
• About 135,000 people were evacuated from the area surrounding the plant, including 50,000 from the town of Pripyat.
• The Academy’s  estimate for the number of casualties  are more than 90,000 deaths and more than a quarter of a million cancer cases.
• The Ukrainian National Commission for Radiation Protection calculates the number of radiation casualties at half a million  deaths so far.
• Some 436 commercial nuclear power reactors are  operating in 30 countries ( total capacity of 372,000 MWe) each of which is potentially as dangerous as Chernobyl, if not worse.
• An estimated 56 countries operate more than 250 research reactors.
• At least 220 nuclear reactors power military ships and submarines.

Related Links:

• Chernobyl: A Night to Remember!
• All is NOT Well at Chernobyl
• Indian Power Workers Drink Radioactive Water
• Obama Goes Nuclear!
• World’s Worst Polluted Places
• Three Mile Island Cats Have 9 Lives, Too?
• French Nuke Waste Plagues Siberia

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Rig Explosion Suit Cites Criminal Negligence by BP, Others

Rig Explosion, Deaths and Oil Leak Caused by Criminal Negligence

TRANSOCEAN, BP and HALIBURTON Sued for Employee Death

Lawsuit filed by Plaintiff, Natalie Roshto (on behalf of herself and her 3-year-old son, Blaine Roshto,) suing  TRANSOCEAN, BP and HALIBURTON for criminal negligence in the loss of her husband, and her son’s father, Shane Roshto.

Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig caught fire after exploding on April 20, 2010. Fire boat response crews are seen in the US Coast Guard photo trying to extinguish the remnants of the semisubmersible platform off the coast of Louisiana, on April 21, 2010. Shane Roshto and 10 of his colleagues were killed in the explosion, while 17 others were injured, at least 8 of them seriously.  The rig sank Thursday morning local time some 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana, and was discovered to be leaking at least 1,000 barrels of crude oil per day, despite earlier assurances that the well would not leak.

The defendants cited in the criminal negligence suit are:

(A) TRANSOCEAN, LTD, (TRANSOCEAN ENTITY), a foreign corporation doing business in the State of Louisiana;
(B) TRANSOCEAN OFFSHORE DEEPWATER DRILLING, INC.,
(TRANSOCEAN ENTITY), a foreign corporation doing business in the State of Louisiana;
(C) TRANSOCEAN DEEPWATER, INC. (TRANSOCEAN ENTITY)
(D) BP, PLC, hereinafter referred to as “BP,” a foreign corporation doing business in the State of Louisiana;
(E) BP PRODUCTS NORTH AMERICA, INC., hereinafter referred to as “BP Products,” a foreign corporation doing business in the State of Louisiana; and (F) HALIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES, INC., hereinafter referred to as “Haliburton,” a foreign corporation doing business in the State of Louisiana.

Natalie Roshto claims that HALIBURTON, on of the Defendant cited in the negligence law suit “was engaged in cementing operations of the well and well cap” immediately prior to the explosion that killed her husband.  Based on the information since obtained Mrs Roshto believes  HALIBURTON acted “improperly and negligently” while performing those duties, which was a cause of the explosion.

Her husband Shane Roshto was employed by TRANSOCEAN ENTITIES as a Jones Act seaman, the lawsuit states, and was assigned by TRANSOCEAN ENTITIES to
work aboard the ill-fated DEEPWATER HORIZON.

Paragraph 11 of the lawsuit states:

At all times material hereto, the vessel on which Shane Roshto was injured and/or died was owned, navigated in navigable waters, manned, possessed, managed, controlled, chartered and/or operated by defendants, TRANSOCEAN ENTITIES, BP and/or BP PRODUCTS.

Paragraph 15 of the filed lawsuit, which has been filed with the UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA, states:

The above-described incidents were caused solely by the negligence of defendants, TRANSOCEAN ENTITIES, BP, BP PRODUCTS and HALIBURTON, through their agents, servants and employees, which are more particularly described as follows:

NEGLIGENCE OF TRANSOCEAN ENTITIES
a. Failing to provide a competent crew;
b. Failing to properly supervise its employees;
c. Failing to properly train and/or supervise plaintiff and other employees;
d. Failing to provide plaintiff with a safe place to work, and requiring plaintiff to work in unsafe conditions;
e. Failing to provide sufficient personnel to perform operations aboard the vessel;
f. Failing to properly follow drilling protocols and policies, proper well monitoring
and control practices;
g. Failing to exercise due care and caution;
h. Failing to avoid this accident;
i. Failing to provide decedent with a seaworthy vessel;
h. Other acts of negligence which will be shown more fully at trial.

NEGLIGENCE OF BP AND BP PRODUCTS

a. Failing to properly train and/or supervise its crew and other employees;
b. Failing to ensure that its crew worked in a safe and prudent manner;
c. Failing to provide plaintiff with a safe place to work, and requiring plaintiff to
work in unsafe conditions;
d. Failing to exercise due care and caution;
e. Failing to avoid this accident;
f. Failing to provide decedent with a seaworthy vessel;
g. Other acts of negligence which will be shown more fully at trial.

NEGLIGENCE OF HALIBURTON

a. Failing to sufficiently and competently perform cementing operations aboard the
vessel.;
b. Failing to properly supervise its employees;
c. Failing to properly train and/or supervise plaintiff and other employees;
d. Failing to provide plaintiff with a safe place to work, and requiring plaintiff to
work in unsafe conditions;
e. Failing to provide sufficient personnel to perform operations aboard the vessel;
f. Failing to exercise due care and caution;
g. Failing to avoid this accident;
h. Other acts of negligence which will be shown more fully at trial.

Related Links:

• Gulf of Mexico Oil Leak – Update Apr 27
• Disasters Caused by Oil and gas Drilling, Oil Spills, Leaks, Land, Water and Air Pollution

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Gulf of Mexico Oil Leak – Update Apr 27

Mississippi Canyon Block 252 Oil Well Still Leaking Heavily

On April 24, Fire-Earth Moderators said: “… oil wells gushing at a rate of 8,000 barrels per day don’t heal automatically after a fire.”

BP Map of northern section of Gulf of Mexico. Approximate location of the oil slick marked by Fire-Earth. Click image to enlarge.

Facts, Near Facts, Diluted Facts …

• The sunken Deepwater Horizon [Deepwater Deadzone?] oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico about 66 kilometers (41 miles) off the coast of Louisiana is leaking crude oil at a rate of about 1,000 barrels per day.

• BP is fully responsible for the massive mess.

• BP, the leaseholders of both the well and the drilling platform, or other sources involved in the “clean-up” operation, were quoted as saying two days ago that the well could be capped within “two to three days). These are probably the same people who declared on April 23 that the well posed “no threat” of leaking.

• On April 24, Fire-Earth Moderators said: “… oil wells gushing at a rate of 8,000 barrels per day don’t heal automatically after a fire.”

• “Right now, we are focusing on securing the well,” said Admiral Landry in Charge of the regional Coast Guard. “But absolutely, we are monitoring 24/7 to make sure there is no additional leak beyond the 1,000 barrels a day.”

• “The safety of the people working offshore is our top priority and the improved weather has created better conditions for our response,” said BP Group Chief Executive Tony Hayward. “This, combined with the light, thin oil we are dealing with has further increased our confidence that we can tackle this spill offshore.”

• BP CEO for Exploration and Production Doug Suttles told reporters that his company was trying hard to determine what caused the explosion that lead the sinking of Deepwater Horizon, and the ongoing leak.

• BP plc is a  the third largest multinational energy company and the 4th largest corporation in the world.

• “We are also working with industry experts to devise and deploy a method to collect the oil close to the sea bed to minimize spill impacts,” said Doug Suttles.

• The perfidious oil Goliath has been operating for 101 years, and still can’t suck an egg?

• The overall size of the leak is about 50km (32 mile) by 50km.

• The areas of emulsified crude oil are located about 38 miles offshore.

Oil Leak from Damaged Well in Gulf of Mexico

Download large image (2 MB, JPEG) –  acquired April 25, 2010

Download large image (4 MB, JPEG)  – The above images of the affected area were captured on April 25 by MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite (top, wider view) and the ALI on NASA’s Earth EO-1 satellite (bottom, close up). In the top image, the Mississippi Delta is at image center, and the oil slick is a silvery swirl to the right. The oil slick may be particularly obvious because it is occurring in the sunglint area, where the mirror-like reflection of the Sun off the water gives the Gulf of Mexico a washed-out look. The close-up view shows waves on the water surface as well as ships, presumably involved in the clean up and control activities. [Note the oil spill is now larger by at least 2,500 barrels since the above images were acquired.] Image and caption: NASA [Edited for brevity by Fire-Earth.]

Current location of oil sheen according to Unified command graphic (DATE: April 26, 2010 18:34:16 EST)

• Click here for the largest image released

Related Links:

• Louisiana Coast Oil Leak Disaster Underway

• Gulf Sunken Rig: No Major Spill Yet—Reports
• Deepwater Horizon Still Burning – UPDATE
• Offshore Oil Rig Explodes
• Disasters Caused by Oil and gas Drilling, Oil Spills, Leaks, Land, Water and Air Pollution
• Want a Mandate to Kill Life on the Planet?

• Chevron-BP Pipeline leaks Oil into Louisiana Wildlife Refuge
• Oil Refinery Explodes in Washington State
• Obama: A Serious Self-Hater

• NASA Satellite Images (disappointing, as usual, but meant as a record)

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