tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post1671781534574955365..comments2023-05-24T23:33:57.516+10:00Comments on My Unwelcome Stranger: Dipen, Fukushima, Glenn and Esther, and BangladeshDenis Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-61631819930474742612011-04-02T15:44:01.862+11:002011-04-02T15:44:01.862+11:00Thanks very much for that information, Dipen - I n...Thanks very much for that information, Dipen - I never thought to use Google Maps to go and snoop on Dhaka as well. How great to be able to see it! What was the nearest cross street to your house in Rankin St? I can't make out which house it is for certain. Things also look different from when I was last there, which isn't surprising I guess!<br />As to the Fukushima plant, it is an absolute mess and I don't know how they will solve that one quickly. The terrifying cost of NOT solving it may encourage some intensive research on ways to speed up the process of managing the decontamination, as I really don't believe that in 50 to 100 years they will still be scratching their heads as to what they will do about it.<br />As to Bangladesh, its need for power in the absence of a lot of fossil fuels is critical, but contaminating the Padma would be unimaginably horrendous, so this accident may help to decide more wisely about the pros and cons – maybe even yea or nay.<br />As to my writing, I find there are so many ideas floating round in there I am afraid I won’t even get a tenth of them down, but the trick is to do them at my own pace, and in a way, to let them sort themselves out. It is a very uncertain time, and the occasional sporadic stabs of sudden pain out of the blue around the tumour site remind me that plans for the future should make allowance for rapid change.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-24971385793488439762011-04-02T06:21:47.143+11:002011-04-02T06:21:47.143+11:00Dear Denis, The plant in Bangladesh is proposed to...Dear Denis, The plant in Bangladesh is proposed to be near the Ganges (Padma). In Google Earth, you can find a bridge over the river if you search for Paksey, Bangladesh. There is some cleared land south of the railway. I am not sure, but that may be the future site. Cooling water has to come from the river and there is problem with that - more about this later.<br />The Fukushima preparedness leaves a lot to be desired. I hope this ends well, but the surrounding site will have to be abandoned for years. <br />By the way, Denis, I must salute your zeal and energy. I think your writing and zest for life are an inspiration for the rest of us.<br />DipenAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-34935944740807592392011-04-01T18:24:09.192+11:002011-04-01T18:24:09.192+11:00Hi Dipen - well, it's about time someone embar...Hi Dipen - well, it's about time someone embarrassed you for the right reasons! :) You've always been way too modest. I'll make the correction to your research site. Uni of Cal is so big I never quite figured out where the boundaries are, but I'm sure it was on your bio and I should have picked it up. <br />You made me laugh when telling me about what I thought was some sort of nuclear reactor in Dhaka. It's so obvious to me now that if there were one, that's hardly where it would be anyway (well, I HOPE not!) It's just that I hadn't thought of that image for decades - I had a colour slide of it somewhere from 1973 or so. Any idea where the Russian reactors are supposed to be set up? Gosh I think 2/3 of Bangladesh at least must be a flood plain.<br />I just read that the disaster readiness plans for Fukushima consisted of one sat phone and one lone stretcher. Oops.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-66530977955965403442011-03-31T15:50:12.356+11:002011-03-31T15:50:12.356+11:00Dear Denis, Thanks for those wonderful words. You ...Dear Denis, Thanks for those wonderful words. You are way too kind, but I am embarrassed. Thanks for the photo also. By the way, I am researcher at UC Riverside, not at UCLA. <br /><br />I think the structure that you saw in Dhaka is simply a light tower on the premise of Atomic Energy Commission. The tower used to have a red light set amidst a jagged profile giving a sensation of the throbbing heart of a nuclear reactor! Currently, Bangladesh has a small research reactor made by GE. But the country has signed an agreement with Russia to set up two one-GigaWatt nuclear units! <br /><br />Best, DipenAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-17729093490044550262011-03-30T10:08:47.309+11:002011-03-30T10:08:47.309+11:00Actually, I must check with Dipen about what must ...Actually, I must check with Dipen about what must now be a very old nuclear power plant I seem to recall seeing in Dhaka in 1973.<br /> Dipen is a very good photographer. It's rather disconcerting that one person has so many talents. I think he may be a twentieth century incarnation of Leonardo! :)Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-69617566350980765022011-03-29T21:12:03.527+11:002011-03-29T21:12:03.527+11:00Actually I focused in on Dipen's wonderful pho...Actually I focused in on Dipen's wonderful photos of the Sunderbans. I've read two books about that region (well one very good novel by Amitav Ghosh, and one book about the tigers there). I've never seen photos that really explained so well what those writers described, so thank you Dipen and Denis. <br /><br />Not meaning to detract from the terrible nuclear problem happening now and possibly more in the future, esp if Indonesia persists in all its projects. As I'm pretty sure it will..Juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03796734273732243982noreply@blogger.com