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March 22, 2011

Intellectuals vs. Men With Machinery

By Bruce Thompson

Many Americans would recognize Michio Kaku from his shows on The Science Channel. On Thursday afternoon, March 17, he appeared on Fox News and called for the Japanese to use their air force to implement the Chernobyl option. What he was recommending was to bury the reactors at Fukushima with sand and cement in a similar manner to the Russian response to the Chernobyl meltdown. He made a cogent observation (at 1:05 of the video), "Sending one helicopter to dump 50 tons of water on a flaming nuclear power plant is like using a squirt gun to put out a forest fire". He followed that statement with another one much less useful, "I say we should exercise the Chernobyl Option. What did Gorbachev do in 1986? He called out the Red Air Force,  hit Chernobyl with helicopters with sand bags, concrete and boric acid. That's what I suggest. Call out the Japanese Air Force, arm a fleet of helicopters, put lead underneath and sand bag it. Entomb the reactor in solid concrete, a sarcophagus of concrete." No indication from whence that fleet of helicopters would come in a tsunami devastated nation with hundreds of thousands of people suffering without food, water or shelter.

Thankfully, America has the assets of the United States Navy, "A Global Force for Good".  Early Tuesday March 15, I sent an email to the Navy's Supervisor of Salvage with that same nugget of actionable intelligence, that the Japanese were trying to fight the fires with a fire truck. Given their huge background of knowledge, a Can DO! Spirit, and access to useful machinery,  I quickly received a reply which read as follows:

Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2011 8:50 AM

Subject: RE: Japanese Nuclear Crisis

 Thank you for your note/concern - the Navy and we are engaged.
The results of the Navy's efforts can be found on the website of the Seventh Fleet.

YOKOSUKA, Japan - Commander Naval Forces Japan (CNFJ) Regional Fire Department sent a Morita 1,000 gallon structural engine (firefighting) to Fukushima City located in the northern region of Honshu, Japan March 16.


The fire truck was dispatched from CNFJ Region Fire Department's Negishi Fire Department, which is located in Yokohama. After vehicle was given a police escort to the delivery point, the crew then educated the local Fukushima Firefighters on how to operate the vehicle.

While detached from Negishi Fire Station, the truck will be supporting humanitarian efforts for victims of Japan's recent earthquake and tsunami.

"This is an emergency situation not only for Japan but on the international scale and we as firefighters love to lend a hand to our Japanese neighbors," said Yokosuka Base Fire Chief Dan Vogel.

The U.S. Navy continues missions in support of Operation Tomodachi in response to the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunamis that hit northern Japan March 11.


YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan (March 16, 2011) - Crew chiefs from the 730th Air Mobility Squadron, unload a shipment of U.S. Navy pumps off of a C-17 Globemaster III. The aircraft delivered the materials to provide disaster relief and humanitarian assistance to Japan as directed in support of Operation Tomodachi.

So while Dr. Kaku was pontificating on TV, the Japanese were preparing to use the firefighting truck and pumps, supplied in a timely manner by the United States Navy, to put huge quantities  of water on the fires, successfully gaining control and starting the process of stabilizing the situation. .As the Deepwater Horizon crisis demonstrated and the Fukushima crisis re-confirmed, bet on the men with machinery over the intellectuals every time!
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