NH #284: CHERNOBYL EXCLUSIVE! – New Arch Not “the End;” It’s the Beginning – On-The-Ground Report w/Lucas Hixon

This Week’s Featured Interview:

• Lucas Hixon is a nuclear researcher who has been on-the-ground at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, part of a US-led coalition of experts and professionals who work hand in hand with the workers.   We spoke initially while he was in Ukraine, but waited until he was back in the US to talk about issues stemming from the placement of the New “Safe” Confinement structure; questions about the long term soundness of the new structure that require close monitoring in the coming years, and implications for the Fukushima clean-up from what has been learned at Chernobyl.
• PLUS: Learn how you can help Lucas with medical supplies for Chernobyl workers and rabies shots + spay/neuter for the Dogs of Chernobyl at Clean Futures Fund.  

 Time lapse video of Chernobyl arch rolling into place:

Workers (photo below, upper left) rappel down the sides of the New Containment Structure at Chernobyl for one final check, right before the arch is moved into place.  Just so you can get a sense of how big this thing really is.

Photo courtesy Lucas Hixon

Numnutz of the Week (for Outstanding Nuclear Boneheadedness)

Ahhh, Gina “Never-Met-A-Nuke-I-Didn’t-Like-and-Cover-For” McCarthy, head of the Environmental Protection Agency – did you really thing we’d swallow those “Protective” Action Guides (PAGs) that allow for 1,000, 10,000, up to 100,000 times the Safe Drinking Water Act without becoming Numnutz, yet again???

The Missing Links:

• Alice Slater of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation published the article, “Seeking Nuclear Disarmament in Dangerous Times.”
• Fidel Castro‘s reflections on nuclear weapons, “Genocidal Cynicism.”