Fukushima Plant Chief: “No idea how to decommission reactors…the technology does not exist”

[DeSwiss]

Published: March 29th, 2015 at 10:29 am ET
By ENENews



See: Candid Interview about Decommissioning Fukushima Daiichi


The Times of London, Mar. 27, 2015 (emphasis added): Japan faces 200-year wait for Fukushima clean-up — The chief of the Fukushima nuclear power station has admitted that the technology needed to decommission three melted-down reactors does not exist, and he has no idea how it will be developed.

In a stark reminder of the challenge facing the Japanese authorities, Akira Ono conceded that the stated goal of decommissioning the plant by 2051 may be impossible without a giant technological leap. “There are so many uncertainties involved. We need to develop many, many technologies,” Mr Ono said. “For removal of the debris, we don’t have accurate information (about the state of the reactors) or any viable methodology… [The rest of the article is only available to Times' subscribers]

MORE

See Also ——

13 baby gray whales and 55 dolpins found dead on West Coast — “Rash of dead humpback whales in Oregon” — “Corpses of sea lions, birds, sea turtles decomposing” — Mysterious deaths probed by gov’t — “Fear for whales encountering ‘radiation hot spots’… Volunteers trained about dangers of radiation” (VIDEOS)

Fukushima: More Leaks & Japan Wants MORE Nuclear Power update 4/2/15

[Ainaloa]

1. At least he was honest

At least he's telling the truth, not a bunch of mamsy pamsy lies about the reality of the situation. Hopefully it will make our leaders think twice about nuclear power.

[DeSwiss]

16. Honesty is it's own punishment.

- I know.

[raging moderate]

2. We are playing with our toys before we have read the instructions.

When I used to climb, I never climbed up until I could see how I would be able to climb down. Thomas Edison is said to have designed the entire system of electrical energy delivery before he began selling it to people (with help, of course, from pioneers like Michael Faraday). We should not build something we cannot control or dismantle safely.

[DeSwiss]

17. Even before we understand what the words of instructions mean.

And I agree completely about the need for ethical standards being required in the control and use of technology. But that has never been the ''American-Way'', has it? That's how we found ourselves today, awash in plastic and plastic goo. We have so dramatically chemically altered our immediate environment(s), that illness is not only expected in one's life, but is almost considered the norm.

- In all the politicking for healthcare programs, it never seems to occur to anyone that maybe we're the ones making ourselves sick......

[Zorra]

28. Robin Williams, "Nuke Away"

[Octafish]

3. TEPCO might've lucked out and found the right guy for the job.

Decommissioning Chief Speaks Out (NHK video)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/features/201503312108.html

Thank you for a most important post, DeSwiss.

[DeSwiss]

19. De nada.

- I can imagine his job interview started with him saying:

Naohiro Masuda: "I won't lie."
'Abe Crony': "Not even a little?"
Naohiro Masuda: "I won't lie."
'Abe Crony': "Send in the next applicant!"
Voice outside door: ''There is no one else who wants this job!!!''
'Abe Crony': "Okay, you're hired."

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Bad bad news, but surely not unexpected.

The guy sounds pretty humbled.

We are in the midst of such a perfect storm, aren't we?

[DeSwiss]

20. Yeah, the scriptwriters have outdone themselves with this one.

- Cecile B. Demille would be proud. Epic!

[closeupready]

5. It's okay; it doesn't matter. There is no actual harm being produced, I learned on DU,

from a damaged nuclear reactor spewing radioactivity into the environment. So they can simply walk away, doing nothing, secure in the knowledge that it's no big deal.

[DeSwiss]

21. I didn't know DU had a Delusional Group.

- Thanks for the warning.

Speaking of delusional ideas, here's one that could work (somewhere):

[PCIntern]

42. Thinking the exact same thing...

after all, there is more radiation in the three bananas on my table as there is emanating from that plant...

[zappaman]

6. ENENews...

[Rex]

8. 200 years!? By then we won't be using nuclear reactors!

IMNSHO.

[zappaman]

9. By then, we will be living on

Uranus.

[Rex]

12. hehe

[Rex]

7. 200 years!? I seriously doubt it will take that long.

Maybe 20 years.

[RobertEarl]

10. What TEPCO is telling you...

Don't expect us to fix this problem.

As far as the experts can tell, TEPCO will be most happy if it all just washes off into the Pacific like it is doing.

The main problem for Japan is that 150,000 people can not return to their homes and never will be able.

150,000 refugees from a broken nuke plant!! It's like a war zone there.

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. TEPCO now admits it has been hiding news of radioactive leaks for over a year

Fisheries ‘shocked’ at silence over water leak at wrecked Fukushima No. 1 plant

Fishermen in Fukushima Prefecture slammed Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Wednesday after it emerged that water containing cesium and other radioactive isotopes has been draining into the Pacific near the Fukushima No. 1 plant and that Tepco did nothing to prevent it despite learning of the leak last May.

“I don’t understand why (Tepco) kept silent even though they knew about it. Fishery operators are absolutely shocked,” Masakazu Yabuki, chief of the Iwaki fisheries cooperative, said at a meeting with Tepco officials.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/02/25/national/tepco-admits-failed-disclose-cesium-tainted-water-leaks-since-april/

[RobertEarl]

13. TEPCO is great at cover-up

Too bad they weren't so good at making sure their nuke plants didn't blow sky-high. Eh?

From what I can tell, the facilities have built in drains around the buildings. Drains that lead right to the ocean. Little people like us get fined for allowing our sewer waste to flow into the ocean, but nuke power can pretty much do whatever the hell it wants. And hell is the correct term. The place is hotter than hell and they hope they can get the Pacific to cool it down and save them big bucks.

Nuclear power is hell and we are living their hell.

[RobertEarl]

14. What the hell is going on here?

The biggest baddest pollution in the history of mankind and this new thread is ignored by thousands of what I thought were caring peeps here on DU.

Let them eat cake, is what the elite say about us, and I guess this is proof they were right about our worth.

Eat cake, indeed. Trickle their pollution down and make us eat it, indeed.

And people wonder why some of us say we are doomed?

I guess DU is just one big popularity contest anymore? "Look, momma, I can post and post and post all kinds of shit on DU, and ignore important stuff. Hahahahaha"

[RobertEarl]

15. Instead of this

We have an NFL thread going strong. A f'n NFL thread? WTF?

[DeSwiss]

22. ''Willfull blindness'' explains a lot of it, RobertEarl.

- Magical (wishful) thinking and just pure illogic, pretty much explains the rest. Standard deviation of +/- 3%.

[Art_from_Ark]

24. All I can say is,

I live 100 miles away from the complex. I sympathize with the refugees/evacuees, many of whom have relocated in my city. I also work with a man whose family lives less than 25 miles away from the reactors.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

26. For me, it's how DU shows posts.

I didn't even see this post til 24 hours later, because I wasn't on when it went up.

So don't assume people are ignoring it. Some of us just didn't see it until now, many still haven't seen it.

[hunter]

31. Fracking waste in our groundwater is a bigger problem.

Even in terms of radioactivity. How will we clean up that mess?

Climate change caused by other fossil fuel wastes (carbon dioxide, leaking methane...), conventional non-nuclear pollution and garbage, and human fishing fleets are killing the marine mammals. Many marine mammal populations are in bad shape because they simply can't find enough to eat.

The cult-like behavior of certain ant-nuclear activists is harmful to the overall environmental movement, and even to the honest anti-nuclear movement. That's what keeps people away from threads like this. There's little reason to wonder why threads like this are ignored.

I know you've been told this before, I'm posting for people new to these sorts of threads.

[RobertEarl]

34. That's all you have?

You slam anti-nukes all the while saying there is no problem with nuke waste and pollution?

Then why is it that nuke plants have to spend billions on containing the waste and pollution?

No, like other nuke lovers, you will say and do anything to protect the industry and attack the true environmentalists who actually care and stand up for the earth and ts voiceless beings. Shame on you.

[Duppers]

18. Recommended

Where are those optimists living in Japan now?

Some of us knew what was happening back then. It's a sad situation. But could something similar happen here?
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/10/14/fukushima-on-thehudsoncouldjapansnuclearnightmarehappenhere.html

[DeSwiss]

23. I don't know where they went.

- I know where they came from though......

[center] [/center]

[CanonRay]

27. While going through a box of old Christmas ornaments

I found at the bottom a Milwaukee Journal from 1956, with an article interviewing a guy from Ford saying how we'd all have nuclear powered cars by now. I cannot believe now that anyone thought that way. I was 5 at the time it was written.

[Art_from_Ark]

25. I don't know if you could call me an optimist

You know that I live in Japan. And I am probably living closer to this disaster than any other DUer. I have never been particularly optimistic about this disaster. I have, though, on numerous occasions, stated that the people who will be most affected by this disaster are the people who are living just outside of the evacuation zone, and the people in the evacuation zone were forcibly evacuated from their homes, and have been waiting for more than 4 years to return, although the prospects for that seem to be getting dimmer.

[Bonobo]

40. Gleeful Dickiness

It's not just for breakfast anymore!

[FLPanhandle]

29. Good time to fund research in some new technologies then.

They probably need autonomous robots with electronics able to survive the high levels of radiation.

Such an advance would also be great for space exploration too once developed.

[DeSwiss]

30. Even some old ones could help....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6458408

[Avalux]

32. I think we all knew this was coming.

There was no way with an accident of that magnitude, they'd be able to successfully manage it. The MSM blackout on this is par for the course, since this isn't a problem we can invade, bomb or sanction...there is no enemy we can see. Meaningful intervention would require a cooperative global effort and such a thing just isn't on the agenda of the status quo.

So we watch yet ignore, the man-made wound inflicted on this beautiful planet and its creatures continue to spread and fester. All the while telling ourselves it won't hurt us.

[DeSwiss]

37. Willfull ignorance......

...it's what's for breakfast in America. Every day.

But Karma is Mother Nature's genetic coding that corrects for stupidity in a species by allowing it the freedom to get rid of itself once it becomes a nuisance, and saving herself the bother.

- You have to admire the quality and yet simple design......

Here's something else we ignore every-damn-day.....

[Trillo]

33. Godzilla meets Fukushima

Too bad humans can't build a super-giant bulldozer, with a scoop big enough to take the whole facility in one attempt, and just scoop it out and dump the debris in lead & concrete.

[DeSwiss]

38. We'd need a planet-sized scooper.

And then someplace to scoop it to.

- I vote Wall Street.

[malaise]

35. Oh My!

There are no words

[DeSwiss]

39. These can help:

Zeolite DMSO RADEX RD1503+ - Radiation Detector

- Yeah, I was a Scout. What can I say?

[malaise]

43. I was a girl guide

Good advice.

[KoKo]

36. At least they are FINALLY admitting IT!.... K&R! Thanks for this post.

Not that it does much good at this point World Powers should have commissioned a "Manhattan Project Undone" to put heads together to try to find a solution. But...nooooooo....everyone turned a blind eye and let "TEPCO" take care of it like the BP Spill into the Gulf. "Corporations Know Best" is the Rule of Law and Science these days.

[DeSwiss]

41. Agreed, but then they didn't have any choice.

- They'd run out of lies. The truth was all that was left......

Well, that's not entirely true. They still have plenty of arrogance left in 'em:

See also: Nuked & Abandoned: USS Ronald Reagan