The Obama Administration dismisses Fukushima and the health effects it has on the American public. However, since1972, nuclear reactors of the type operating at Fukushima—General Electric’s Mark 1 Boiling Water Reactor—have been considered safety risks due to their particular vulnerability to explosion and rupture from hydrogen buildup. Five of the six nuclear reactors used at Fukushima were GE Mark I BWR reactors; three of these were not only supplied but also built by General Electric.
General Electric (GE) is not being held accountable for its role in the disaster, Chris Carrington reports, because of its ties to the Obama Administration. General Electric’s CEO, Jeffrey Immelt, also leads the United States Economic Advisory Board, which Obama invited him to in 2009. Carrington reports that 23 of the same type of accident-prone GE nuclear reactors currently operate across the United States—another reason that the Obama administration may be reluctant to draw attention to GE’s role in the Fukushima disaster. The government does not want anyone asking questions about the GE reactors’ flawed design, for fear of a corporate lawsuit against the and a blow to their reputation therefore risking the health of Americans. The government does not want the public asking questions about the GE reactors’ flawed design.
As of March 2014, there has yet to be corporate media coverage of the ties between the Obama administration and GE, as these relate to the ongoing Fukushima disaster. As Carrington writes, “Nothing in this article is a state secret, everything is in the public domain, but the information is so disseminated that it appears disconnected.”
Source: Chris Carrington, “Why the Obama Administration Will Not Admit that Fukushima Radiation is Poisoning Americans, Global Research, http://www.globalresearch.ca/why-the-obama-administration-will-not-admit-that-fukushima-radiation-is-poisoning-americans/5365626.
Student Researcher: Paige Vreeburg (Sonoma State University)
Faculty Evaluator: Emily Acosta Lewis (Sonoma State University)