Unimaginable Bravery

[Guest RobinFadal]

The bravery of of some individuals never ceases to amaze me!

50 workers bravely stay at troubled Japan reactors -- small crew of technicians could be last hope to prevent catastrophe

"A small crew of technicians, braving radiation and fire, became the only people remaining at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station on Tuesday — and perhaps Japan’s last chance of preventing a broader nuclear catastrophe.

They crawl through labyrinths of equipment in utter darkness pierced only by their flashlights, listening for periodic explosions as hydrogen gas escaping from crippled reactors ignites on contact with air.

They breathe through uncomfortable respirators or carry heavy oxygen tanks on their backs. They wear white, full-body jumpsuits with snug-fitting hoods that provide scant protection from the invisible radiation sleeting through their bodies.

They are the faceless 50, the unnamed operators who stayed behind. They have volunteered, or been assigned, to pump seawater on dangerously exposed nuclear fuel, already thought to be partly melting and spewing radioactive material, to prevent full meltdowns that could throw thousands of tons of radioactive dust high into the air and imperil millions of their compatriots."

[CanuckSARTech]

Well put, well said. From what I've read through the CBC here, there's a core group of 15 men (maybe women too??) that are the primary group that's working on trying to sustain the cooling process and keep the fires to a minimum.

When decisions like this need to be made, you hope they're all single men and/or older gentlemen who have lived long and fulfilling lives. Not that it makes things any better, but it does help maybe for the strong family cohesion that they have in Japan, so that you don't have a widow who's now raising three toddlers by herself. Maybe the wrong thought to have in all of this. But, it was something that crossed my mind.

Either way....honourable and brave work to be doing, trying to keep a bad situation from getting worse, and doing it with full acknowledgement and realization of the horrific outcome for them no matter what. A tear to be shed in the heart, for these noble acts by noble giants of humanity.

[OZCUBAN]

Here Here ,one cannot imagine the guts that would take,and to the search and rescue guys/gals,how come your not there cannuck

as for the reactor people i hope its not like K19 Widow maker

cheers OZ

[CanuckSARTech]

  OzCuban said:

Here Here ,one cannot imagine the guts that would take,and to the search and rescue guys/gals,how come your not there cannuck

Trust me, if I could be, I would.

The radiation thing is one thing. I'm not up to par with what's needed for those specialized skills. But for actual SAR and CERT work, stuff like that....

Our provincial units were one of a number that were looked at for assistance post-Hurricane Katrina and other stuff like that in the U.S., as well as an iffy potential with Haiti after the earthquake. The problem is, is insurance. We're covered and trained essentially for our own province in Canada. Going federal, it's very unlikely - there's some bureaucratic crap that would need to be done. But, going international, it's a red-tape nightmare.

Those of us that do it, wish we could help in someway. It's heartbreaking to have the skills and capability to help in some way, but then be held back due to finances/insurance/red-tape/etc. But at the same time, we have limitations that we try to be realistic about too.