Arnie Gundersen will be on Coast to Coast AM tonight (Sat Jun 9)

[bananas]

Arnie Gundersen has been on CNN, MSNBC, and DemocracyNow! as well as other media outlets.

A tweet from Fairewinds:

https://twitter.com/fairewinds/status/211536350556585984

Maggie Gundersen
@fairewinds

Fairewinds' Arnie Gundersen on Coast to Coast radio Fukushima Daiichi Special tonight 10 pm PDT & 1 am EDT http://bit.ly/KW4kdl

12:12 PM - 9 Jun 12 via TweetDeck · Embed this Tweet

Some background info, because it always comes up:

Arnie Gundersen is a nuclear engineer who blew the whistle on safety issues back in the 1990's resulting in a $1.5 million lawsuit and congressional hearings. Since then the nuclear industry and its shills have unsuccessfully tried all kinds of sleazy tactics at discrediting him. They've even falsely claimed he's not a nuclear engineer - it's the same kind of "fair game" tactics right-wingers unsuccessfully used trying to discredit Valerie Plame, claiming she was just a glorified secretary, etc. Please don't fall for that nonsense. He has a Masters Degree in Nuclear Engineering, was a senior vice president of Nuclear Energy Services, after being blacklisted by the nuclear industry he taught math and became an independent consultant on nuclear energy. He isn't "anti-nuclear", he just debunks a lot of the PR and happy talk from the nuclear industry.

In 1993 NRC Chairman Ivan Selin testified in response to a question by Committee Chairman Senator John Glenn:

http://www.archive.org/details/federalregulatio00unit

Everything Mr. Gundersen said was absolutely right; he performed quite a service

In 2007 the Vermont Daily wrote:

http://vermontdailybriefing.com/?p=663

What Arnie Gundersen Says About Yankee Eventually Becomes Truth About Yankee
by Philip Baruth

<snip>

Arnie was an executive in the nuclear industry, back in the late ’80’s, but in 1990 he came forward as a whistleblower and was fired the same year. Over the next several years, his case got a great deal of attention, and he testified before Congress during hearings on ways to protect whistleblowers.

Fast-forward to 2007. Arnie is now a prominent nuclear safety expert witness. And he’s also a longtime reader of this site.

<snip>

The fact that Arnie’s very specific projections so closely mirror eventual reality at the plant says several things to me:

1) Arnie Gundersen knows from whence he speaks. He is not some crank with an irrational fear of nuclear energy. Rather, he is a highly skilled watchdog, whose views the State should begin actively soliciting rather than fighting or disparaging.

<snip>

In 1995 the New York Times wrote about his fight with the nuclear industry:

http://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/12/nyregion/paying-the-price-for-blowing-the-whistle.html

Paying The Price For Blowing The Whistle

By JULIE MILLER
Published: February 12, 1995

FOR three years, Arnold Gundersen was awakened by harassing phone calls in the middle of the night. He became so concerned about his family's safety that he bought a large dog for protection. The problem? He was a whistle-blower, one of those who take on the dismally unpopular role of exposing what they find to be unsafe or unlawful practices in the workplace, especially the nuclear workplace.

<snip>

Mr. Gundersen, who lives in Warren, told of the day in 1990 when he discovered radioactive material in an accounting safe at Nuclear Energy Services in Danbury, the consulting firm where he held a $120,000-a-year job as senior vice president. Three weeks after he notified the company president of what he believed to be radiation safety violations, Mr. Gundersen said, he was fired.

He is fighting a $1.5 million lawsuit filed against him by his former employer for continuing to discuss the alleged safety violations publicly after agreeing to an out-of-court settlement. Mr. Gundersen said he believes he was blacklisted, citing an April 22, 1991, letter concerning him that the company sent to 78 people. He also says he was harassed and fired for doing what he thought was right.

Mr. Gundersen's case, according to a number of whistle-blowers and others interviewed, is not uncommon, especially in the nuclear industry. Even though nuclear workers are encouraged to report potential safety hazards, those who decide to do so say that they risk demotion and dismissal. Instead of correcting the problems, whistle-blowers and their supporters say, industry management and government forces attack them as the cause of the problem.

<snip>

[freshwest]

1. bananas, if you a youtube link to the program, please post it here. I can't get the audio. TIA.

[bananas]

2. try knwz

http://www.943knews.com/

[bananas]

3. I think his segment is over

He was on for the first hour, sounds like they're going to have someone else on next.
Some stations will repeat it at 2am PST.
If I come across a YouTube I'll post it.

[freshwest]

4. Thanks, I didn't get him but I did get the man after him talking about agriculture, very good. IDK

Who he is or who he's talking to, but it sounds good and I've bookmarked the page for future programs.

[bananas]

5. enenews has it on vimeo

http://enenews.com/fukushima-special-arnie-gundersen

[freshwest]

6. Ah, I may be doing it wrong but it seems to require a subscription.

[bananas]

11. The audio is at the fairewinds site now - listen free

http://www.fairewinds.com/content/coast-coast-hosts-arnie-gundersen-updates-fukushima-daiichi

(embedded player)

Coast to Coast's John Wells hosts Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds. First up, Arnie discusses the recent news that bluefin tuna caught off the coast of California were found to have radioactive contamination from last year's Fukushima accident. "They went fifteen for fifteen... that basically means that every tuna in the Pacific now is carrying cesium-134 and 137," he reported. Arnie expressed concern over the rush to get nuclear units in Japan running again before safety modifications are put into place. Even when you safely shut down a nuclear reactor, about 5% of the heat never goes away, he explained, adding that in the case of Fukushima 5% represents 150,000 horsepower worth of heat. If that heat isn't dealt with on a continual basis, a meltdown is possible, he noted. Arnie and John also talked about the astronomical amount of radiation in spent fuel rods, pointing out that the radiation in the fuel pool in Fukushima's Unit 4 is equal to all of the cesium exploded during the 700 above ground nuclear tests the United States did in the 60s and 70s. He suggested spent nuclear fuel rods be stored in heavily shielded dry casks.

[freshwest]

12. Thanks, that worked. I wish they made these in mp3 format to download, but I got it now.

Appreciate the follow through.

[NickB79]

7. FYI, Coast to Coast AM is best known for promoting UFO's, ghosts, and Bigfoot

Probably not the best venue to present himself on.

[Nihil]

8. There again ...

... some would suggest that he'd fit right in on that channel ...

[bananas]

9. They also have respected scientists like Michio Kaku for guests.

Both Michio Kaku and Arnie Gundersen have been on CNN, MSNBC, DemocracyNow!, and Coast to Coast AM.

Arnie was also on KPBS TV and radio here in San Diego. He's been on a lot of media outlets. Trying to discredit him for that is kind of silly.

[Nihil]

10. You misunderstand me

> He's been on a lot of media outlets. Trying to discredit him for that is kind of silly.

There is nothing that I could (or would) do that can discredit Gundersen more than
his own ravings of last year. I'm just happy that he's found an appropriate outlet.

[freshwest]

13. Whistle blowing is no longer regarded with the respect it was in the days of the tobacco hearings...

And for the same reasons. Corporations control the meme and people know instinctively they are going to be attacked.

That he's managed to get favorable reports in the venues in the OP, says quite a bit. He's also been on some cable news stations. There is a problem with C2C in that it is used by CT's also, but as some have said, it's good for entertainment.

Some people got there for that, others find it a reinforcement of Doomsday scenarios that get their adrenaline running. Humans love those, they speak to their deepest fears. Like spooky stories around the campfires at night to frighten the children.

But we are not children and we should attempt to understand the changes in our world. No matter how such things frighten or concern people, they know there is little they can do to change what is happening. They sense this and find other things to while away their time, waiting for the other shoe to drop on them.

Some feel they are making a difference by calling attention with information. How we filter and use it is our choice. The line between being manipulated with unjustified fear and being militant about one's own survival is a thin one for many people. I don't fault anyone with their path, but often fault the messenger.

I feel such information may change enough minds to push governments of the world, if maintained to be strong enough to overcome corporate interests, to a more sustainable system. If the governments are not strong enough, we fall into the hands of an unaccountable technocracy run by corporations who regard the planet, its people and ecosystem as one would an inanimate mine for profit. We see this in the mountain removals to get coal, and the operations pushing extinctions in forests.

One of several objections I have to the CT sphere of which C2C is accused of being part, is that they promote a sense of inevitability. When they use the idea that 'bloodline families' or TPTB are so strong and so powerful, even of extra-terrestrial origin, they add to feelings of helplessness.

Some will respond we must destroy all institutions we have in order to stop them killing the majority of us. This incites a level of fear in which rational thought is run into the corner, and panic begins. It's a slash and burn mentality, little different than the worst of the corporate mentality I attempted to describe above.

And ends up in fascism because the 'strong men' will prevail over the masses from the ensuing chaos and it has nothing to do with the vaunted 'freedom' and 'liberty' of the Paulites. At that point, those with cooler heads will rule the ones who have been frightened, which makes it a self-fulfilling prophecy, that we'll be controlled by someone who does not respect our lives and our freedom.

I was never a regular listener of the show, but have researched by listening to many CT voices to see what it was. It is a different view of reality, but in the end it can be self-defeating. Giving up on what our parents and grandparents and contemporaries have sought to create, is just what the alleged PTB would like us to do.

I look at intent and believe Gundersen is a simply specialist with knowledge and conviction. It should be taken into account in the context of all we do.

Sorry, not awake yet. So that may not have made much sense. But I am glad bananas took the time to follow through on his OP and offer us the knowledge and opinion that this man has.