Theme 1: Ecological Data & Data Center Infrastructures
Written by: Tony Cho
Research conducted by: Seowoo Nam, Dohee Jeon, Jiyun Lee, Tony Cho
Written by: Tony Cho
Research conducted by: Seowoo Nam, Dohee Jeon, Jiyun Lee, Tony Cho
Written by: Tony Cho
Research conducted by: Eunbin Cho, Yuwan Kim, Heewon Kim, Tony Cho
Slow Futures Laboratory presents the Slow Seoul Workshop.
The National Regulatory Commission: Government agency responsible for public safety with regards to nuclear reactors and nuclear energy
Entergy: An integrated energy company that primarily deals with electric power production. Operators of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant
Disaster Accountability Project: Nonprofit organization that monitors disaster-response programs and acts as a watchdog for disaster response and preperation
The main methods that the authors appear to use are reported data from disasters that have happened around the globe, including numbers and types of infections, displacement and crowding data, and knowledge of the disaster incidents examined
The main point of the article is to report a conflict of opinions between the NRC and the Disaster Accountability Project on the safety of the communities surrounding the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant. The NRC and the company running the plant, Entergy, state that those communities within a 10 mile radius are required to have emergency evacuation plans in place should a nuclear emergency occur; those outside this radius, however, are not at as large of risk. The nonprofit, however, cites the NRC's report on the Fukushima disaster, where it recommended the US citizens within 50 miles of the plant should evacuate the area, and suggests that communities within a 50 mile radius of Indian Point have specific nuclear emergency plans at hand and prepared for use. Entergy says that the radius "provides a robust safety margin", and the NRC replies to the Disaster Accountability Project's statement by saying that the incident at Fukushima is not comparable to any nuclear power cite in the US, due to the size and number of reactors in the Fukushima plant.
"So far, however, the idea of setting up a trust fund to allow the Haitian government to eradicate cholera by providing clean water and sanitation has been a deal-killer among international donors."
"'If we do get a final order that the UN's immunity doesn't apply, we would expect the UN to put in clean water and sanitation and compensate the victims,' Concannon says [....] That's the optimistic view."
"That kind of political morass is one big reason - though by no means the only one - why the billions in relief and recovery aid haven't been enough to rescue Haiti from the disasters that fate kept flinging its way."
"The risk for commuicable disease transmission after disasters is associated primarily with the size and characteristics of the population displaced, specifically the proximity of safe water adn functioning latrines, the nutritional status of the displaced population, the level of immunuty to vaccine-preventable diseases..., and the access to healthcare services"
"...natural disasters (regardless of type) that do not result in population displacement are rarely associated with outbreaks"
"When death is directly due to the natural disaster, human remains do not pose a rise for outbreaks"
The author contacted both the NRC and the nonprofit Disaster Accountability Project for statements and information on the safety of the plant and if emergency plans were in place. The NRC gave statements and information on their discussions with the Disaster Accountability Project, and the nonprofit described their process of sending freedom-of-information requests to 20 jurisdictions in NY, NJ, and CT located up to 50 miles from Indian Point, in order to determine if they had emergency plans related to the power plant and what they might be