Swine Flu Info Blog

One extremely huge security risk that would come from a bird flu pandemic is nuclear power plants.

Right now, about 17% of the world's electricity is produced by nuclear power plants.

There're over 400 nuclear power plants currently in operation around the world -- over 100 of them in the United States alone.

The total varies a lot by country. France relies on nuclear power more than any other country -- using nuclear power to generate 75% of the country's electricity.

The United States currently gets about 15% of its electricity from nuclear power. That is an overall percentage. Your area may be much higher or lower.

Although the construction of nuclear power plants has stopped in the United States and almost all of Europe, due to concerns about the safety of these plants and of what to do with the nuclear waste generated by them, it's continuing in Asia and some other areas.

Disclaimer: I was a anti-nuke activist at one time. I worked extensively on an electoral petition drive which would have banned the operation of nuclear power plants in the state of Missouri until there was a safe, permanant storage facility for nuclear waste. That was 1980, not a good election to promote anything at all "liberal," so our proposal failed to pass.

But it's possible we played at least a small part in Union Electric's decision to cancel their proposed Calloway II nuclear power plant.

I used to be completely proud of that. Now, I'm not so sure. I haven't completely turned around on this issue, as I have on so many I used to be a leftwing radical on. I recognize the world's great need for electricity. However, all the nuclear waste bothers me. After all the half-life of plutonium is 250,000 years.

Of course, the greatest potential danger from a nuclear power plant is the meltdown of its core.

The heart of a nuclear reactor is the core where uranium enriched with U-235 sits.

The U-235 is split, making it give off two or three neutrons. If these neutrons strike other U-235 atoms, then they are split and the nuclear fission reaction continues as long as there're atoms of U-235.

This fission reaction gives off heat, which is used to heat water to steam, which turns a turbine which creates electricity.

So nuclear power is basically just a fancy way to boil water.

If, on average, less than one neutron hits another U-235 atom, then the reaction is called sub-critical and the reaction will die out.

If, on average, one neutron hits one other U-235 atom, then the reaction is called critical and the reaction will continue. Nuclear power plants maintain this level to generate a stable amount of heat to run the turbine.

If, on average, one neutron hits more than one other U-235, then the reaction is called supercritical.

This is where it gets dangerous. Contrary to what some fear, the core of a nuclear reactor can't go off like an atomic bomb -- the U-235 is not that much enriched. The fission reaction can't become supercritical fast enough to explode.

However, it can continue to heat up until the physical structure melts down and forms a superdense, superheavy ball. So heavy and dense that theground is not strong enough to hold it, so it falls through the soil of the Earth. In theory, it could go to the core of the planet and keep
on until it reaches the opposite side.

Since the opposite side of the United States is China, we call this this the China Syndrome.

This would release a tremendous amount of radioactivity. If you watch the movie The China Syndrome you'll hear an expert say it would render an area the size of Pennsylvania uninhabitable for eons.

The focus is usually on the area surrounding the site of the former nuclear power plant, but I think that the hole left on the other side of the planet would also release a lot of radioactivity.

I don't know whether anybody's ever asked geologists how sending a superdense ball through the core of the planet would affect its internal structure. Probably it would create at least some instability and cause volcanos and earthquakes.

A nuclear reactor meltdown is something no sane person wants to happen.

Unfortunately, there are some insane people out there -- including many islamo-fascists who believe that their religion justifies any actions which kills infidels. As a note left by one of the Spanish train bombers reads: "You love life. We love death."

Therefore, any country containing nuclear power plants must make protecting them their number one priority during a serious bird flu pandemic.

They must protect against accidental error due to a shortage of trained personnel. Plus they must protect against deliberate damage from a terrorist group taking advantage of the bird flu pandemic.

The level of the reaction in the core is adjusted by using control rods that absorb neutrons. If the fission reaction gets too strong, the people operating the plants must insert enough control rods to reduce it. Or stop it when necessary.

Plus, water is used to keep the core cool.

One danger will be that the plant is not properly taken care of, due to death and illness of employees.

Therefore, all nuclear power plant personnel should be kept isolated from the rest of the population. If they've possibly been exposed to bird flu, if possible they should remain in a quarantine for at least 5 days to make sure they're not infected, before being in contact with the other people.

They should also receive all available medical care. They should have their own doctor and nurse and supply of antiviral medicines and nutritional supplements.

This includes nuclear plant security guards.

In fact, extra guards should be sent to watch over nuclear power plants to prevent terrorists attacks. Even if they must come from military units.

It might be impossible to quarantine these new security guards, so shifts should be kept separated from each other to reduce the chances that one of them will spread bird flu to others.

The military unit surrounding the power plant should remain on the perimeter so there's no chance they spread an avian flu infection to either the regular plant guards or other plant workers.

If nuclear power plant personnel do start coming down with bird flu or feel that they cannot maintain a critical reaction at a safe level, for any reason -- they should have orders to shut the reactor down with control rods to prevent a meltdown.

Another weak point is that the plant must be supplied with enough water to keep the core cool. Therefore, it's critical that this source of water be safeguarded against problems caused either by bird flu death/illness or terrorists.

It would also be a good idea to patrol the air space above the power plant. If well constructed, they should be strong enough to withstand a direct hit from a crashed airplane, but who wants to depend on that?

Shipments of nuclear fuel to the power plant should be suspended if at all possible.

Shipments of nuclear waste from the power plant should certainly be suspended for the duration of the bird flu pandemic.

Although it is desirable to keep the power plant generating electricity throughout the pandemic, it may be pointless. That's because shortage of electric utility personnel during the pandemic could create massive electrical shortages throughout the grids anyway.

If the power plant generates electricity but it doesn't benefit anyone because too many wires are down and can't be repaired, it's smarter to just turn the plant down as far as possible -- and the people working there should just wait out the pandemic.

During a bird flu pandemic, protecting nuclear power plants must be a country's number one priority.

The H5N1 virus pandemic will kill many people, but certainly not everybody. And it will go away within 3 to 12 months.

A nuclear power plant will kill everybody within many miles, and radiation will continue as a health hazard for an uncountable number of generations.

This article is about the H1N1 and China travel. You can find some useful information in it if you are planning your China vacations now.

The A(H1N1) quarantine policy (from several big Chinese web sites) in China:

1. If you don't have a fever when getting off the plane in the airports of China, you don't need to worry about quarantine policy of China at all. If you do have a fever, you will need to do a medical examination in the city where you enter China. This is to make sure that you don't get the A(H1N1) flu.( more info about "Travel To China, H1N1,China vacations" at Travel2ChinaInfo Dot COM )

2. If there is some people having a fever in your plane to China and your seat is very close to him/her (less than 3 meters away), you will need to do the medical examination in the hospital when this people is confirmed as a A(H1N1) flu patient. The Chinese Malaria Control Center will contact you when they find some confirmed A(H1N1) cases in the plane you take. If you sit far away from the A(H1N1) patient (more than 3 meters away) in the plane, you don't need to worry about this issue at all. No one is going to ask you to do a medical examination even when there is some confirmed A(H1N1) cases in your plane to China.

3. Some people did the quarantine for a week in Beijing and Jiangshu when they got to China. They only did this voluntarily. One one is going to ask you to do this. But in my point of view, this can be good both for your family and your friends. You don't wanna your close people to be threatened by the A(H1N1) flu too, right? ( more info about "Travel To China, H1N1,China vacations" at Travel2ChinaInfo Dot COM )

Some personal experience when people arrived at the airports of Beijing,Shanghai or Hongkong:

1. My parents traveled to China last Monday. All they got in the Beijing Capital Airport is to go through a Temperature Monitoring Device. That's it. When they stayed in the hotel, the Malaria Control Center didn't contact them. Now there are more than 200 A(H1N1) cases in China and the Chinese people don't pay so much attention to this flu as they used to be. (I think it is very natural for the Chinese people to be very nervous about this A(H1N1) flu. The SARS was such a disaster here in the year of 2003. )

2. I flied to China last week and I am in China now. I am not very familar with the A(H1N1) quarantine policy in China. I will only talk about my personal experience here. I entered China in the Shanghai Pudong Airport. In the plane, the airhostesses helped us to do the body temperature check once. When we arrived at Shanghai, some "astronauts" checked our body temperature again. When I left the U.S., my body temperature was about 37 Centigrade. (because I was sleeping poorly these days) But they didn't find me out. Maybe I was not having a fever when they checked my body temperature in the airport. I then transfered to another plane. No one contacted me about the A(H1N1) flu issue any more. I can do whatever I like in China. By the way, I left my address in China and phone number in the Shanghai Pudong Airport of course.

3. I visited Hong Kong last week. All I did is to fill out some forms. No body temperature check at all. When I arrived at Shenzhen, some people asked me to go through the Temperature Monitoring Device and fill out some other forms. ( more info about "Travel To China, H1N1,China vacations" at Travel2ChinaInfo Dot COM )

By 06/13/2009, there are 293 A(H1N1) flu cases in China. ( Beijing: 38, Guangdong: 37, Fujian: 25, Shanghai: 17, Sicuan: 15, Hubei: 9, Zhejiang: 6, Tianjin: 4, Shandong: 3, Hunan: 2, Henan: 1, Jiangsu: 1, Shanxi: 1, Liaoning: 1, Guizhou: 1, Jiangxi: 1, Hainan: 3, Hongkong: 84, Taiwan: 44 )

By Shane Lee. Date: 06/14/2009.

Copyright belongs to Travel2ChinaInfo Dot COM .  You can find more information about China vacations, China airfare, Beijing airfare and Shanghai airfare  from our web site.
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Preparing a  Businesses Pandemic Plan

“Plans are nothing, planning is everything” - Dwight D Eisenhower

Suddenly, the word “pandemic” is everywhere.  Businesses are nervously looking for ways to deal with the PANDEMIC. "It is just a matter of time!" warns Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, of the forthcoming global flu pandemic.

The H1N1 Swine flu bears similarities to the H1N1 virus of the 1918-19 pandemic and has spread throughout the US and world. The World Health Organization has raised the warning level to Phase 5 - widespread human infection - one step below a full influenza pandemic, signaling that it's time for all companies to prepare.

Quoting HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt, "Those expecting the federal government to ride in and come to their rescue are going to be sorely disappointed.” “Within 16 weeks of the theoretical Thai outbreak, 92 million Americans would be infected.” The 1918 pandemic killed more people in first 6 months of the pandemic than were killed in all of World War 1 - 5 out of every 100 people.

The CDC estimates that over 200,000 people would die in a moderate pandemic and cost the US economy $100 billion; a worst case scenario would cost the economy about $450 billion with over 1.9 million deaths – 1 person in every 150. The Lowry Institute International Policy estimates a worst case scenario would result in over “140 million deaths world-wide and a $4.4 trillion dollar impact upon the world economy” – plunging the world into a global depression.

How will companies feel the impact?

• High absenteeism for extended periods – sick employees; employees staying home to nurse sick children or spouses; others staying home to avoid getting sick. Plan for up to 50% of your employees being absent -25% sick and 25% staying at home.
• The influenza is expected to last 18 to 24 months and come in three waves - each wave with a different level of severity, lasting for a month or more.  Waves can start at anytime of the year – with little advanced notice (days);
• Your suppliers may not be able to support you fully - if at all.
• You may lose customers because you can’t supply them.
• Sales may decrease as demand for your products or services decline.
• Transport systems would be disrupted.
• Lawsuits centered on working conditions (employees getting sick at work, failure to meet OSHA or Sarbanes-Oxley requirements, failure to prepare, failure to fulfill contracts, etc.) may result.

What can companies do to prepare?

Develop a Business Pandemic Preparedness and Recovery Plan based on the CDC’s worst case scenario with trigger points for a mild or moderate event.  Use the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Pandemic Alert Level as a trigger for your plan. (www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/phase/en/index.htmlv).

Disaster Recovery or Business Continuity Plans focus on short term impact to physical assets – plants and equipment - a pandemic flu targets human resources.

An effective Business Pandemic Plan includes:

1. The Formation of a Pandemic Crisis Manager and Teams.

2. Communications Plan -One of the greatest risks is panic – employees, customers and suppliers.

3. Health Education Plan -A comprehensive employee wellness and illness prevention program is vital for minimizing thetransmission within your company.

4. Essential Function/Service Plan -Identify the skeleton operations needed during the pandemic. Develop procedures tosystematically reduce or shut down operations not vital to the core functions. Be sure toaddress your supply chain and key/critical suppliers.

5. Recovery Plan -Guided by your essential services plan, systematically resume operations in reverse orderbased  on your capabilities and the needs of your customers.

6. Test your plan.

Test your plan and train company personnel in its use.

This strategy is designed to minimize the disruption to your business and to give you a competitive advantage over those who failed to plan.

Swine influenza – Swine influenza or swine flu is a respiratory disease in pigs caused by the type A H1N1 swine influenza virus (SIV). Humans in close proximity to swine could contract swine influenza if the swine are carrying the rare strain of the SIV that is capable of affecting humans.

Symptoms – Swine flu symptoms in humans are generally similar to regular flu (influenza) symptoms and include muscle pain, runny nose, sore throat, cough, headache, lack of appetite, fever, chills, and general weakness and discomfort. Other reported symptoms are nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Transmission – Swine flu spreads from pigs to humans when humans are close to infected pigs. People working in barns or visiting livestock exhibits housing infected pigs are likely to get affected. Transmission from humans to humans can occur when the infected individual coughs or sneezes when others are close by. Putting one’s hands to the nose or mouth after touching anything with the flu viruses on it could also spread the infection. Consuming well-cooked pork and pork products won’t cause infection as cooking to an internal temperature of 160°F kills bacteria and viruses, including the swine flu virus.

Treatment and medication – While swine flu can generally be cured by the four antiviral drugs approved for curing flu in the US, amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir and zanamivir, the recent 2009 swine flu outbreak viruses have been found to be resistant to the first two drugs. Oseltamivir and zanamivir are now recommended for treatment and prevention of swine influenza.

Prevention – Swine flu can be prevented by taking certain precautionary measures, such as washing hands frequently with soap or an alcohol-based hand wash. Staying away from infected individuals is important as their coughing or sneezing could spread the infection. If instances of infection are reported in your locality, stay indoors as far as possible. Swine flue vaccine could be out by June 2009.