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Is Chernobyl Still Dangerous? Was 60 Minutes Pushing Propaganda?
An anonymous reader writes:
This article has an interesting take on how the media is presenting the current Chernobyl situation. Its author, Ron Adams, is a long time nuclear advocate, so read with that in mind. Adams critiques a recent CBS 60 Minutes broadcast that took pains to show how dangerous the area still is. He writes, "The show is full of fascinating contrasts between what the cameras show to the audience and what the narrator tells the audience that they should believe. ... I correspond with a number of experts in fields related to radiation, radioactive waste management, site restoration, and the health effects of low level radiation. There has been quite a bit of discussion about the misinformation propagated by this particular 60 Minutes segment."
has a liberal bias (which also indicates you have no idea what "liberal" even means), instead of a corporate one
Would that corporate bias be why, 5 years ago, you couldnt open a magazine or turn on the news without hearing about how evil Google was? And prior to that, Microsoft? And these days, Tesla and their horrendous fires (which may or may not have been caused by a Tesla)?
Corporate bias, are you off your rocker?
You want a liberal bias? Tally up the number of large news organizations in the US who support classically liberal / progressive causes vs conservative ones:
* Same-sex marriage
* Legalization of marijuana
* needle exchange programs
* anti-war sentiments
* pro-choice
I think you will find the ratio is at least 2:1. For real "fun with hidden biases", lets see who responds with "but thats just because theyre the right positions!"
1) Editorial management of the show has not been as good. (It is really, really difficult to find someone who can manage reporters.)
2) CBS, the parent organization, has not been as devoted to the enormous good will that comes from many of the 60 Minutes shows. CBS does not support the show sufficiently, in my opinion.
3) There is no one associated with 60 Minutes, apparently, who has significant understanding of technology, even though the show often tries to cover stories about technology. Here is a quote from the transcript of the show about Chernobyl, showing that Bob Simon has no understanding of the dosimeter he is wearing:
However, although Bob Simon twice shows he has no depth of understanding, there is no technical error in the transcript of that 60 Minutes show. Aside from the ooh-wow reactions of Bob Simon, it is exactly correct. (I haven't watched the video. I can imagine there is more ooh-wow in the video editing.) The main idea of the story is illustrated by this quote: "There's still so much radiation coming from the reactor that workers have to construct the arch nearly a thousand feet away, shielded by a massive concrete wall. When finished, the arch will be slid into place around the Sarcophagus, then sealed up."
In fact, the expense of covering the extremely dangerous parts of the area is enormous. That is a very serious issue, an issue of concern to everyone in the world. After many years, the work of reducing the danger is still not finished.
There is a nuclear disaster area in the United States, the Hanford nuclear site. I've heard about the some of the problems over many years from a manager of one of the departments of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Wikipedia article mentions some of the problems. Here is one quote: "Citing the 2014 Hanford Lifecycle Scope Schedule and Cost report, the 2014 estimated cost of the remaining Hanford clean up is $113.6 billion..." [my emphasis] Retrieved Dec. 3, 2014.
Here is another quote from the Hanford Wikipedia article: "From 1944 to 1971, pump systems drew cooling water from the river and, after treating this water for use by the reactors, returned it to the river. Before being released back into the river, the used water was held in large tanks known as retention basin for up to six hours. Longer-lived isotopes were not affected by this retention, and several terabecquerels entered the river every day. These releases were kept secret by the federal government."
What is called cleaning Hanford has now taken more than 50 years. The Wikipedia article is not, at present, completely clear about that fact, apparently because, as the quote above says, the U.S. government managed the information so that it did not get into the news, although much of the information was not actually a secret.
The problem is not in what is said in the transcript of 60 Minutes show, but in what is communicated. The average viewer has no understanding of nuclear radiation. The author of the Atomic Insights story is annoyed by the fact that the 60 Min