March 13, 2011
Full Transcript Now Available for Interview with my Dad, a Nuclear Engineer, about the Japan Nuclear Disaster
Posted by Evelyn Mervine
I just wanted to post quickly that thanks to two kind and hard-working readers, there is now a full transcript for my interview with my dad, Commander Mark L. Mervine, US Navy, about the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster in Japan.
The transcript can be found here:
A Conversation with My Dad, a Nuclear Engineer, about the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster in Japan
I asked my dad if I could interview him later this week as more information about the nuclear disaster becomes available. He said he would be happy to be interviewed again. If you have any specific questions, please post them below and he will try to answer them.
And, just because I can, below is another adorable picture of my dad & me when I was a child. I’ve asked my mom to send some more recent pics of my dad & me as I don’t have any on my computer for some reason. The picture below was taken when I visited Scotland, where my dad was working on nuclear submarines.
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| My dad & I, circa 1987 or so. |
Thanks very much for this. Both to you and your father. Very helpful info."I asked my dad if I could interview him later this week as more information about the nuclear disaster becomes available. He said he would be happy to be interviewed again. If you have any specific questions, please post them below and he will try to answer them."Here are some questions please:1. Your father mentioned the best-case scenario. What would he see as the worst-case scenario? For example, could radioactivity possibly spread to say Tokyo or even beyond Japan's shores to other parts of Asia?2. If your father were asked to advise on U.S. energy policy, would he recommend we continue building nuclear reactors?3. Just out of curiosity, would nuclear reactors in U.S. nuclear submarines have similar safety measures to the Fukushima Daiichi in order to keep its core reactor from a meltdown (e.g. additional power sources, some sort of a containment unit, I assume nuclear submarines could somehow use boron mixed with the plentiful salt water around them)?Thanks again.
I am sorry that there are no transcripts (yet) for interviews #2 and #3. I don't have time to transcribe. If anyone would like to volunteer, I can pay in pretty rocks.
Thanks for this. Can your dad comment on the danger to US residents and what precautions a reasonable person might take?