General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBBC: Work at Fukushima Unit 4 a “distraction”; The “real nightmare” is coming from 3 molten cores
Published: December 7th, 2013 at 7:01 pm ET
By ENENews
BBC Tokyo correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, Dec. 6, 2013 (at 2:30 in): Theyre doing this work because thats the easy bit. Reactor 4 was not badly damaged compared to the other reactors. There was no core meltdown, so that is the one that they can sort of get to grips with [ ] Reactor buildings 1, 2, and 3 where there were core meltdowns, the radiation levels there are still way too high for anyone to go in those buildings. So I think Reactors 1, 2, and 3, the reactors that had core meltdowns, are the real long-term problem, and a very difficult problem to deal with. Reactor 4 is a bit of a distraction. Its important to get the fuel out, but it is the easy bit. [ ] the really big headache [is] to keep those melted reactors cool, which they have to do for many years to come. They have to pump water into the damaged reactor cores [ ] Its a real nightmare to manage this ever-growing amount of water. >> Full interview with Hayes here
New York Times reporter Matthew Wald* (at 46:30 in): The water, about a thousand tons a day, comes through the site and some of it goes into the basements of these ruined reactors, and these basements now have radioactive material in them. [ ] The water when it reaches the ocean just about meets international standards for drinking water, its barely polluted [ ] but it just looks awful that two and a half years after this accident, you have not contained the radioactive debris. [ ] [The fuel] is not molten anymore. Of course its kind of like candle wax that solidified, but its all over the place and getting it out is going to be a challenge. [ ] little bits of fuel got out on to the space around the vessel into the basement, etc., etc. Its dangerous, its highly radioactive. On the other hand its not really in a public place. [ ] But probably the first goal is simply to stop uncontrolled releases of radioactive material, and they havent quite reached that yet. >> Full interview with Wald here
* A pro-nuclear blogger discussed Wald earlier this year: Matt Wald of the New York Times recently reviewed a new book on Americas nuclear waste storage saga [...] Aside: Sadly, Matts post was one of the last posts ever published on Green, which just announced its demise due to budget constraints. Its a crying shame; Green provided excellent coverage [...]
Wald says the Fukushima plant is not a public place, so pieces of nuclear fuel in the cooling water isnt as big of a deal and that the leaking water used to cool the fuel is barely polluted. Here is what independent nuclear consultant John Large has said on the matter:
Nuclear Expert: Fukushima melted fuel is drifting in ocean and onto land, lacking any containment -- It ends up on coastline and blows into communities -- People get an exceptional dose -- Health harm will go on for thousands, if not tens of thousands of years (AUDIO)
Nuclear Expert: Melted fuel is exiting Fukushima site -- Very effective way of it being dispersed to humans far away from plant -- Situation is beyond man's control -- 3 or 4 times Chernobyl's radioactivity available for release (AUDIO)
MORE
merrily
(45,251 posts)Say, have you heard that Jenny from the block is returning to American Idol?
(Such is the stuff our alleged news media features.)
DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)...I'm too busy worrying about who Miley's gonna wreck next!!!
- And had you heard about the snubs? Obviously someone needs to call the UN.
Warpy
(111,253 posts)Fairly soon Pacific fish at the top of the chain will be too dangerous to eat. For a while, the coastal waters could be just hot enough to discourage surfers but that part is unlikely to last.
The real damage will be to Japan. Will they evacuate a much larger percentage of the population or will they stay quiet and abandon them to radiation caused illnesses? That's the biggest question.
Our question is whether or not we learn from this and decommission our own nukes, especially the coastal ones vulnerable to storms, earthquakes and tsunamis.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)(I know this running gag is not popular with some, but it became such for a reason)
DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)...Camping believed that a vengeful god was gonna dispatch us, the debil and his minions, and the whole shebang. When it was us doing it to ourselves all along.
- Japan being the source of it all is just karma at-work.....
Bonobo
(29,257 posts)What do you mean by that?
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)The source is a short sighted commercial operation. The owners rarely seem to pay.
PCIntern
(25,541 posts)gotta go into my basement and take three dental x-rays and eat some tuna.
There is an idea for a product: The Fukushima: Grilled tuna and shrimp with banana paste on a roll grown east of the Nevada desert with an appetizer of Bikini Atoll Lobster Roll.
Hey...that rhymes!
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)I mean, as I understand it, the melted cores are a fucking disaster, but that doesn't mean that anyone has come up with anything resembling an idea of what to do about them.
It's not just a question of "the easy bit" versus the "not easy bit".
It's more like a potential problem that isn't a problem yet but could turn into a very big one--- that can be dealt with, versus a massive current problem that no one has any fucking clue what to do about.
Bonobo
(29,257 posts)I cannot take ANYTHING they say seriously.