Nuclear Work

The earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, which now must deal with the increasing radiation from its unprepared nuclear plant.

Just the facts, ma'am.

CNN reports that yesterday Gregory Jaczko, the head of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission told Congress that spent fuel rods in the No. 4 reactor had been exposed because there "is no water in the spent fuel pool," resulting in the emission of "extremely high" levels of radiation. Workers are being exposed to extremely high radiation levels; current readings are nearly 3.8 millisieverts per hour where a typical person receives about 3 millisieverts per year. Tests in Fukushima, 50 miles away, found radiation measuring 12.5 microsieverts per hour -- well above the average reading of 0.04, but still well below that considered harmful to humans.

This is the unfortunate possibility of using nuclear energy, which truly does have many positive qualities so long as nothing like an earthquake shuts down the power of a plant so that the core is not being properly cooled. A meltdown occurs when nuclear fuel rods cannot be cooled and the nuclear core melts. In the worst-case scenario, the fuel can spill out of the damaged containment unit and spread radioactivity through the air and water. CNN does a good job of explaining the current crisis.

Andrew Cuomo wants a review of safety at the Indian Point nuclear plant, only 35 miles up the Hudson River from New York City. The California plant, San Onofre, which sits in a seismically active area is only equipped to manage an earthquake up to 7.0.

Dali painted The Three Sphinxes of Bikini in 1947 in response to nuclear testing on that Micronesian atoll of Bikini, but his blatant depiction of the value we place on nuclear power to the exclusion of anything else seems fitting to re-examine here. Dali was never one for subtlety and like so much of his work, I do think that this picture lacks that extra something beyond what I already stated. But when Japan is facing blatant fears, we might perhaps look at this painting to ask ourselves if we might not conceive, for the sake of the future, a more subtle approach to modern human needs, in art and in energy.