A retired fireman was the speaker at a small anti-atomic-energy demonstration that I happened to see in Friedberg back in 2011. He said, among other things: “I’m a fireman. I went to New York twice to help out at Ground Zero. In Chernobyl the firemen were the first ones to be sent in to keep the place from blowing up. Those guys are all dead now. And again at Fukushima, the firemen were sent in to stop the catastrophe. We’re so idiotic, we do that.”
In his supposedly protective suit
While he was speaking, he demonstrated the protective suit and gas mask that they were issued years ago to use in case of an atomic catastrophe. As he pointed out, it was little more than a plastic raincoat and rubber boots — unlikely to be of much help against nuclear contamination.
Demonstrators with an “Atomic Energy? No Thanks!” flag
My photos in this post are from 2011. I revised the text in 2021.
See more posts on Friedberg, Germany.
New York was not because of atomic energy.
The real problem is that fire fighters are not protected appropriately. I once gave a video talk to firefighters on safety for people entering a confined space. There are certain protocols that need to be followed to ensure that the person going in does not die. Especially for those doing rescue – someone unthinkingly goes into a tank which doesn’t have enough oxygen and passes out – someone else rushes in to save them and also passes out. A third person seeing two people unconscious on the bottom of the tank…..
The firefighters who were attending the lecture were upset by the idea that they should do some testing first before they rushed in to rescue someone.
Obviously they aren’t preparing the firemen for such extreme events and this is terrible.
Leslie
“Atomic energy” reminds me of the lyric in the great Bob Marley song, “Redemption Song.” 🎶 I agree, that thick raincoat doesn’t appear to be very protective.
Which way do you believe energy will go in 2050? Wind and renewables or more nuclear?
I think renewables like wind and solar will win out — hopefully not just wishful thinking on my part.
My Dad thinks mini-nuclear first and maybe hydrogen I think.
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