20 years - Chernobyl

[WA3VJB]

I remember listening to Radio Kiev for news on this disaster, and hearing only something like "there has been a fire at the Chernobyl atomic power station. Teams are working to mitigate the manifestations of the event. And now sports."

-------

  MOSCOW, April 21, 2006 (AFP) - Russian lawmakers Friday voted to
help the hundreds of thousands of people still suffering from the
effects of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion and to
help prevent such catastrophes in future.
   To mark the 20th anniversary of the disaster on April 26,
Russia's lower house of parliament, the Duma, voted unanimously for
a motion expressing "compassion" for victims' relatives.
   The motion also praised the "courage, self-sacrifice and
heroism" of the 600,000 so-called liquidators -- soldiers, firemen
and civilians who were deployed over four years to clean up after
the disaster.
   The Duma "will continue to take measures aimed at the
improvement of the material situation and living conditions of
citizens who suffered from the Chernobyl nuclear plant catastrophe,"
according to the motion.
   It will also continue to "perfect Russian legislation with the
aim of preventing similar catastrophes."
   A reactor at Chernobyl, then in the Soviet Union, blew up on
April 26, 1986 in the worst nuclear accident in history.
   It burned for some 10 days, sending radiation across a large
swathe of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus and parts of western Europe.
   A World Health Organisation report released in September put the
overall death toll from Chernobyl at 4,000, though the figure is
disputed as being too low.
   According to Ukraine, 2.4 million of its people, among them
428,000 children, suffer health problems linked to the nuclear
disaster.
   Greenpeace said on Tuesday that the radiation caused by the
explosion was likely to eventually cause an additional 93,000 cancer
deaths in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.
   Earlier this month, the group International Physicians for the
Prevention of Nuclear War estimated that between 50,000 and 100,000
clean-up workers at Chernobyl had died as of 2006, while up to
900,000 were permanently disabled.

[k4kyv]

I remember listening to Radio Kiev for news on this disaster, and hearing only something like "there has been a fire at the Chernobyl atomic power station. Teams are working to mitigate the manifestations of the event. And now sports."

Just like today the Chinese media are suppressing the embarrassing gaffes from Chinese President Hu's visit to the White House.  A report on NPR today described how the potentially embarrassing incidents are airbrushed out of the news on Chinese media.

The Chinese immigrant who shouted out during his meeting with Bush has been arrested and charged.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/21/hu.heckler/index.html?section=cnn_topstories

Interestingly, during Hu's visit to the US, government and business officials have been openly critical of some aspects of China's economic policy, but not a word has been said regarding the human rights issue.

Another potentially embarrassing news story just came out a couple of days ago about executing political prisoners and harvesting their internal orgains for transplant.  Supposedly China executes more prisoners per year than all the countries in the rest of the world combined.

[W3SLK]

I remember when that happened Paul. I was over off the coast of Italy doing flight ops in preparation for crossing the Line of Death. Our weatherheads were constantly monitoring for the radioactive plume but if memory serves me, it drifted to the north and west.

[Bacon, WA3WDR]

It's amazing how wrong something can go.

Today's oil crunch is going to cause a resurgence of nuclear power.  Whatever the managers have been doing, they have kept the plants under control for a good number of years since TMI and then the Chernobyl disaster.  I just hope they don't start letting broken gauges slide again, etc.

[Tom WA3KLR]

Hi Don and all,

In regards to the China death camps/organ harvest/presidential protester stories:

My ethnic Chinese wife and I visit a large oriental food store about a half-hour drive from us every month or two.  The store is part of a chain called Assi Market run by Rhee Brothers.  Most of the employees are Koreans and Hispanics.  On the way out of the store March 28, I happened to spot a free small newspaper called “The Epoch Times”.  It is labeled “Special Edition, March 2006”, 8 pages. 

The headline is “Chinese Death Camp Revealed”.  The whole issue talks about the secret Chinese death camps, organ harvesting, and the Falun Gong practitioners who were arrested after their religion was banned in 1999 by the Chinese government.  The Falun Gong movement was the fastest growing spiritual movement in China since 1992.  “By 1998 a government survey estimated that upwards of 70 million people, including mid and high-level government and military officials, had taken up the practice.” 

The government was clamping down on them since 1996.  But the final straw was a large peaceful protest by up to 10,000 practitioners near a government compound in the heart of Beijing in April, 1999.  According to the article, none of the 6,000 practitioners held in the Sujiatun concentration camps have come out alive.  Hearts, kidneys, and corneas are removed from live prisoners.

For a number of reasons, including the traditional Chinese beliefs that only a whole body can go on to the next life, there are almost no voluntary donors of organs in China.  Since 1983 there is an immuno-suppressive drug that greatly improves the chances of a successful transplant.  This is when the government crime crackdown started and then “resulted in a large increase in the number of executions of prisoners and thus a big supply of available organs”.


Statement by The Epoch Times on the events at the White House:
At the welcoming ceremony for Chinese Communist Party leader Hu Jintao on the White House lawn, Dr. Wenyi Wang stood up and shouted slogans. Dr. Wang attended this event on Epoch Times press credentials. However, her actions this morning were her own. In protesting in this manner, she did not act on behalf of The Epoch Times. Had The Epoch Times known of her intention to protest, we would have seen that her press credentials were withdrawn. The Epoch Times apologizes to President Bush and the White House for Dr. Wang's actions. Still, The Epoch Times thinks the world needs to understand what might have moved Dr. Wang to take such unconventional actions.
- - - -
Looking through the list of staff members on page 2 of The Epoch Times issue that I have, I did not see Dr. Wenyi Wang’s name.  There are some Chinese names on the staff list, but most are non-Chinese, including the Editor-in-Chief and the Chairman of the Board.  The newspaper’s address is New York city.

The newspaper’s URL is:

http://www.theepochtimes.com/index10.html

Little did I know that when I grabbed the obscure newspaper on my way through the foyer of the oriental supermarket, that it would be providing me with the background on the presidential protest story to hit the headlines a few weeks later. 

And now you know the rest of the story, at least as seen by me.

[W1UJR]

Anyone remember this post of a few years back?
I believe that Don posted it first.

http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chapter1.html

[Tom WA3KLR]

I remember.

As I recall, it turned out to be a hoax.

[W1UJR]

I remember.

As I recall, it turned out to be a hoax.

Yes, read that as well.
This is what is posted on the site.

erver is averaging 12mbps and 4000+ concurrent users.

July 7, 2004

First let me say that I have nothing to do with this project other than donating the bandwidth to allow the world to see it. When I first saw the site, Angelfire could not handle the amount of traffic the site was receiveing. I knew my server could. Then Angelfire began plastering the site with banner ads shamelessly trying to make money off the site. This is the point at which Elena shut the site down, not because she had anything to hide.

Regardless of what is true, this site has certainly made people think more about Chernobyl and this tragic disaster.

However, this story has been there for years and has been primarily forgotten and neglected.

After "Elena" brought this story to light, everyone that claims to be an expert has come forward identifying it as a hoax or a fraud.

How ironic that although they would label her a hoax and a fraud, she was able to achieve what they could not even dream of achieving. Bringing this issue the world wide attention it deserves.

As the only email contact, I have seen each of the moving emails that were directed to "Elena."
Her words have definitely made the world think about this piece of forgotten history. I have seen every request from news agencies from around the world, each of the big names, begging for interviews.

"Elena" wanted nothing to do with these interviews.

I offered to setup a paypal donate account to create a fund for the project and local charities.

"Elena" Wanted nothing to do with it.

Did she do it for fame or notoriety or even money?

Or did she do it in order to bring attention to a forgotten region.

Read her words and decide for yourself.

[WA1GFZ]

we have a couple hot spots on this side of earth ourselves.
I still think nuke power is a good source of energy if properly managed.
our Navy seems to do it well.

[WB3JOK]

Not as melodramatic as Elena's "Ghost Town", but more accurate. Everything you always wanted to know about Chernobyl.

http://www.chernobyl.info/

[w1guh]

The trouble is how to safely store for eons the waste products.