Have No Fear, by Ian Fletcher

17/3/2017

Have no fear,
Tepco says,
we’ll have Fukushima
fully cleaned up
within fifty years.
Yet radiation levels
in the reactor cores
remain so high
that even robots
cannot work inside,
and day after day
contaminated water
pours into the seas
crossing the Pacific
continuously
to poison the fish
in Los Angeles.
This deadly waste
will pollute the planet
through untold centuries
so though Tepco claims
everything’s going to be OK
I don’t believe a word they say.

Fiona Saunders-Priem

17/3/2017 04:35:44 pm

A great short poem, Ian. I admire your ability to express so much in a few lines. Has the rest of the world forgotten about Fukoshima?

Ian Fletcher

17/3/2017 04:46:54 pm

Cheers. An ongoing catastrophe I think...no one seems to know precisely how great a disaster it will / could be, which is what is so scary. That's what inspired the poem, rather than any scientific knowledge on my part, I must admit.

Gordon Lawrie

19/3/2017 11:47:04 am

If only it were possible to have a rational debate about nuclear power. Nuclear power is a lot safer than it was 50 years ago – we are learning – and for the most part it contributes not at all to global warming. But nothing comes without a price.

So it's good to be reminded of Fukushima. I don't think the world actually forgets these things, it's just that there are so many other things to remember, if that makes any sense.

Ian Fletcher

19/3/2017 03:15:36 pm

Yes, a lot of the stuff on Fukushima seems alarmist but they are in unknown territory with the complexity of the clean up operation. Also the radiation effects, cancer etc won't be known for many years. I shall certainly try to keep reading up on it.

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Have No Fear, by Ian Fletcher

Poetry

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