Michio Kaku on Pacifica Radio 5/11 - status of #4 reactor - dire situation at Fukushima

[flamingdem]

http://soundcloud.com/flashpoints/flashpoints-daily-newsmag-05-6

This includes a recent lecture by Michio Kaku as well as live update on No. 4

#4 is on the verge of collapse and the potential release of 800 h-bombs worth of cesium

"They're hanging by their fingernails".

Units 2, 3 and 4 are dire. New information coming out.

100% liquification of the uranium core in #2 never seen before in the history of nuclear power

[flamingdem]

1. Plume-gate: Secret documents prove global cover-up of continued Fukushima radiation pollution Lea

http://www.naturalnews.com/035847_plume-gate_Fukushima_radiation.html

** I haven't researched this yet but I'd like to see the FOIA information to decide for myself what happened

(NaturalNews) A Freedom of Information Act(FOIA) request filed by Friends of the Earth (FoE), Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), and the Nuclear Information and Resource Center (NIRS) has unearthed a shocking series of new evidence proving a deliberate, global cover-up of the true severity of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. And the unfortunate reality is that the mainstream media continues to blatantly ignore this colossal scandal.

Private emails, meeting transcripts and other key documents reveal that both the Obama White House and the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission(NRC) were well aware of just how bad things really were with Fukushima from the early days of the disaster, but did nothing to warn the public about it. In fact, NRC and the White House purposely did not warn Americans about a massive radiation plume that struck the West Coast just days after the massive earthquake and tsunami hit Japan's eastern coast.

According to information gathered from hundreds of pages worth of private NRC emails, conference calls and secret meetings, key players in the Fukushima whitewashing campaign, including the NRC's David McIntyre and Elliot Brenner, were hard at work in the days following the disaster distracting public attention away from it. By pretending that a radioactive plume did not exist while simultaneously sending out misinformation to the media, these two, in conjunction with White House officials, actively participated in a criminal cover-up of the truth.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/035847_plume-gate_Fukushima_radiation.html#ixzz1usejxQ2N

[villager]

5. Sorta like this administration covered up the extent of, and damage from, the BP oil spill...?

n/t

[flamingdem]

7. I haven't followed that very well

I'd like to know more about what happened. With this situation unfortunately Japan is a major ally and in general governments do not want panic. It looks like specific individuals were involved, I'm reading the link from the article but know infowars has an agenda, very anti-administration, survivialist, etc... so more research is needed

[Dont call me Shirley]

13. Don't rely on info from Alex Jones, bush hack.

[flamingdem]

14. I know he's paranoid

but didn't know about the Bush connection, figures.

However with the nuke issue the same material can be carried by infowars as Pacifica, go figure, they're looking for more listeners and some like Arnie Gundersen don't know his history no doubt.

[dixiegrrrrl]

49. Since I live in the BP spill area

I can tell you it was a replay out of Jaws... remember when the mayor of the town was hiding the shark attack because it would scare the tourists?
Pretty much the same thing in the Gulf.

Government insisted fish, shell fish, etc were safe to eat, independing tests showed they were loaded with oil
inside of them, jokes were made about being able to cook them and not have to oil the pan.
People going out on the water were getting sick, tarballs on the beach were being covered up at 5 am by BP,
before the tourists hit the beach...on and on and STILL problems are arising.

[flamingdem]

50. What's the worst current problem

being discussed? Are the locals sick from that spray they used?

[dixiegrrrrl]

57. The current problem is dolphins dying in large numbers

and deformed fish and shrimp showing up.
And the Mobile newspaper then writes " It is a mystery, no one knows why".

[Odin2005]

23. NaturalNews? HAHAHAHAHA!!! That site is woo central.

[Mojorabbit]

45. When the stuff floats over, what can be done to protect

oneself? I know iostat can be taken for a couple of weeks for some components but what else can be done to protect the population?

[flamingdem]

48. Reducing exposure is tricky

but some practical things can be done like not walking in the rain since rainout is a problem, not taking shoes inside the house, taking extra care of health, the hot particles are another story. The other things seem experimental, it would help to have accurate tracking so we'd know how much to be concerned but that was discontinued.

[leveymg]

2. Fukushima meltdown ignored by GE-NBC, et al. That tells me things are beyond control, and we're

Last edited Tue May 15, 2012, 05:58 PM - Edit history (1)

supposed to just go shopping. If it were getting better, they'd trumpet it as a lesson in how safe nuclear power is.

I don't know what the fuck to think anymore about this, and a lot of things. To tell you the truth.

[Selatius]

6. Funny you mention GE. General Electric designed the Mark I reactors used at Fukushima.

The original Mark I design was considered so flawed that several scientists over the years quit on demands that the reactors be retrofitted to handle "realistic" loads in the event that coolant was lost.

[flamingdem]

8. Exactly, at least they covered it when it first happened

but silence lately. They realized it wasn't in their interest, plus that would require second guessing the statements of Tepco and the Japanese government.

[KansDem]

3. Cesium damages heart muscle..

...resulting in an increase in heart attacks. Such muscle will not rejuvenate.

But some will say this is all hype to sell snake oil and advance personal vendettas...

[flamingdem]

4. Senator Wyden and Robert Alvarez, former senior advisor under Clinton with dire warnings about SFP #

http://www.longitude361.com/?p=780

--- snip

Alarmed by the precarious nature of spent fuel storage during his recent tour of the Fukushima Daiichi site, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, subsequently fired off letters to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko and Japanese ambassador to the U.S. Ichiro Fujisaki. He implored all parties to work together and with the international community to address this situation as swiftly as possible.

A press release issued after his visit said that Wyden, a senior member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources who is highly experienced with nuclear waste storage issues, believes the situation is “worse than reported,” with “spent fuel rods currently being stored in unsound structures immediately adjacent to the ocean.” The press release also noted the structures’ high susceptibility to earthquakes and that “the only protection from a future tsunami, Wyden observed, is a small, makeshift sea wall erected out of bags of rock.”

As opposed to units 1-3 at Fukushima Daiichi, where the meltdowns occurred, unit 4′s reactor core, like units 5 and 6, was not in operation when the earthquake struck last year. But unlike units 5 and 6, it had recently uploaded highly radioactive spent fuel into its storage pool before the disaster struck.

Robert Alvarez, a nuclear waste expert and former senior adviser to the Secretary of Energy during the Clinton administration, has crunched the numbers pertaining to the spent fuel pool threat based on information he obtained from sources such as Tepco, the U.S. Department of Energy, Japanese academic presentations and the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO), the U.S. organization created by the nuclear power industry in the wake of the 1979 Three Mile Island accident.

What he found, which has been corroborated by other experts interviewed by AlterNet, is an astounding amount of vulnerably stored spent fuel, also known as irradiated fuel, at the Fukushima Daiichi site. His immediate focus is on the fuel stored in the damaged unit 4′s pool, which contains the single largest inventory of highly radioactive spent fuel of any of the pools in the damaged reactors.

Alvarez warns that if there is another large earthquake or event that causes this pool to drain of water, which keeps the fuel rods from overheating and igniting, it could cause a catastrophic fire releasing 10 times more cesium-137 than was released at Chernobyl.

That scenario alone would cause an unprecedented spread of radioactivity, far greater than what occurred last year, depositing enormous amounts of radioactive materials over thousands of miles and causing the evacuation of Tokyo.

Nuclear experts noted that other lethal radioactive isotopes would also be released in such a fire, but that the focus is on cesium-137 because it easily volatilizes and spreads pervasively, as it did during the Chernobyl accident and again after the disaster at Fukushima Daiichi last year.

With a half-life of 30 years, it gives off penetrating radiation as it decays and can remain dangerous for hundreds of years. Once in the environment, it mimics potassium as it accumulates in the food chain; when it enters the human body, about 75 percent lodges in muscle tissue, including the heart.

The Threat Not Just to Japan But to the U.S. and the World

An even more catastrophic worst-case scenario follows that a fire in the pool at unit 4 could then spread, igniting the irradiated fuel throughout the nuclear site and releasing an amount of cesium-137 equaling a doomsday-like load, roughly 85 times more than the release at Chernobyl.

It’s a scenario that would literally threaten Japan’s annihilation and civilization at large, with widespread worldwide environmental radioactive contamination.

[xtraxritical]

16. Any radioactive stuff from Japan heads straight towards the West coast of the United States.

[flamingdem]

27. We got hit last time and it's worse if it rains out

The mountains get a big deposit but it goes elsewhere as well.

Arnie Gundersen's colleagues collected filters with a lot of "hot particles" things we do not want to breathe.

[DCKit]

9. Ohhhhh, can't wait until Captain Atom and the NewQueLur Defenders chime in on this thread. nt

[freshwest]

10. Are there really any of them left? They're so far down on my Ignore List I forgot their names now.

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. I needed that laugh....thanks.

[freshwest]

15. Hey, it makes these threads much cleaner. No garbage to sift through, LOL!!

[think]

11. K&R Both Dr. Kaku's interview & lecture were worth listening to.

The lecture was mostly entertaining but after listening to the stuff about Fukushima it is a nice change of pace.

[dixiegrrrrl]

17. "Here we have 20 cores worth of radiation."

Realize Chernobyl was one core’s worth radiation causing a $200 billion accident and it is still on- going.

Here we have 20 cores worth of radiation.
Three totally melted, one damaged and the [rest in] spent fuel pumps,
20 cores worth of highly radioactive materials. [...]"

http://enenews.com/they-lied-to-us-radiation-release-comparable-to-chernobyl-total-core-meltdown-in-all-3-reactors-worst-industrial-catastrophe-in-world-history-cnn-video

[jerseyjack]

18. So what can anyone do about it?

[dixiegrrrrl]

20. Sadly, damn little, at a time.

and, the chances of no more earthquakes making it worse is pretty slim at some point.
Because of the exposed fuel rods in #4 alone, there is no current technology to "quickly" cover the reactor.
They admit it will take years.
Meanwhile, radioactive plumes are coming out of 3 of the plants 24 hours a day.
Kinda makes other problems pale in comparison, doesn't it?

[Art_from_Ark]

33. Radiation is still coming out of the reactors

but the effects have been, and will continue to be, far, far worse in the immediate area (eastern Fukushima) than they will be anywhere else in the world. But even then, the city of Iwaki, just 20 or so miles south of the reactors, has an average airborne radiation level that is about twice as high as normal, but nowhere near the levels of March-May 2011. The worst areas for radiation lie along a more or less northwest line stretching about 40 miles or so from the reactors.

http://fukushima-radioactivity.jp/

[dixiegrrrrl]

51. Art, we would love to hear more details/info about reality in Japan.

You are in a good position to know what is going on at the community level.
Are you in a relatively safe place?
How are most people in Japan reacting ( no pun intended) these days about the problem?
How are they making their government respond to their concerns?

[TeeYiYi]

25. Make sure you're getting plenty of iodine. ...nt

TYY

[flamingdem]

29. We're past iodine and on to Cesium

The iodine was from the initial hydrogen explosion but the burning of fuel rods = cesium 137 and .. 136 or was it .. 134 or..

[TeeYiYi]

44. Turmeric powder or curcumin capsules. ...nt

TYY

[flamingdem]

52. That's against cancer or cesium caused cancer

in particular?

[TeeYiYi]

60. Both, and more...

Turmeric is a wonder spice in the ginger root family that has anti inflammatory and anticancer properties.

Specifically, in this case, it will help to protect your heart from the effects of cesium radiation.

http://www.naturalnews.com/035615_turmeric_heart_curcumin.html

TYY

[JohnyCanuck]

19. K&R n/t

[Bonobo]

21. I thought you might be interested in this (link)

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1-roadmap/11043001-e.html

Installation of support structure under the spent fuel pool of Unit 4

Apr 30, 2011
Tokyo Electric Power Company
■Objectives
Since the walls of the reactor building, Unit 4 are severely damaged, we have been evaluating the seismic capacity to confirm the soundness of the building. As the result of the evaluation, we have decided to install support structure under the spent fuel pool to enhance safety of the building.

■Work Overview
- Install steel support under the spent fuel pool to sustain the weight above
- To secure its function, install concrete wall and fill up grout between the concrete wall and the bottom of the spent fuel poll

■Schedule
We are now developing detailed work plan and plan to start the preparation work from early May. Then, we will start the main work from mid-May and complete it at the end of July. We expect to finish the installation of steel support by mid-June. Thereafter, we can anticipate that the load will be decreased.

[dixiegrrrrl]

22. Link to Arnie Gunderson's latest video about unit 4.

http://www.fairewinds.com/content/fukushima-daiichi-truth-and-future

Very important points not covered elsewhere.

Actually, this YouTube version worked better for me:

[dixiegrrrrl]

24. That Flashpoints Daily magazine linke is terrific!!!

I have listened to Kaku's talks, and will add this to my "must do" list of internet fun.
thank you!

[bananas]

55. Dennis Bernstein is great! nt

[Logical]

26. I am so sick of this crying wolf!!!

[RobertEarl]

28. Fascinating

How can such an illogical statement be uttered?

Obviously you are drawn to it like a moth to a flame.
Why else would you click and write?

...............................................

[Logical]

46. Illogical? The dire predictions of what COULD happen is what is amazing.....

Let's act like the worst case possibility is going to happen! Let's just assume a 7.5 earthquake will hit the reactor!

The DU loves drama!

[flamingdem]

53. That's not unlikely in Japan, and if it's less the building lacks structural integrity

That seems logical to me and to the Japanese who are attempting to reinforce the building.

[Bonobo]

30. The danger of the pool falling in an earthquake is not what you may think.

The earthquake that hit was perhaps the 3rd largest earthquake in recorded history and it did not fall.

Also:

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1-roadmap/11043001-e.html

Installation of support structure under the spent fuel pool of Unit 4

Apr 30, 2011
Tokyo Electric Power Company
■Objectives
Since the walls of the reactor building, Unit 4 are severely damaged, we have been evaluating the seismic capacity to confirm the soundness of the building. As the result of the evaluation, we have decided to install support structure under the spent fuel pool to enhance safety of the building.

■Work Overview
- Install steel support under the spent fuel pool to sustain the weight above
- To secure its function, install concrete wall and fill up grout between the concrete wall and the bottom of the spent fuel poll

■Schedule
We are now developing detailed work plan and plan to start the preparation work from early May. Then, we will start the main work from mid-May and complete it at the end of July. We expect to finish the installation of steel support by mid-June. Thereafter, we can anticipate that the load will be decreased.

[flamingdem]

35. But it lost structural integrity

They are saying it will take 5 years to stabilize, many earthquakes will do further damage

[RobertEarl]

43. Right, it could be fine

Some folks think that putting the focus on SFP4 is just a way to divert attention from the sinking cores at the other three reactors. Which seemed to be working.... until now.

The building housing SFP4 has been slowly falling apart over the last year. Before and after photos show the shocking decline. So eventually, it will fall down, especially if there is another good size quake.

See, another quake could just pick up the whole building, new supports and all, and toss it.

Ya know what would be nice? If they let a cameraman go in and take lots of good pics of the supports and all that. Why don't they allow us to see what TEPCO has done?

[flamingdem]

54. Good idea, close up video of the structure

would be great so why is that not happening..

[dixiegrrrrl]

58. "so why is that not happening.".

for the same reason that all the needed work on the building is not happening.
Radiation levels are so high people cannot get near it for any effective amount of time.
that is one reason they are predicting it will take 40 years ( if nothing goes wrong) to encase just #4..
assuming they first invent and create the technology to repair it.
( as the radio show discussed)

[Warren DeMontague]

32. One, Fukushima is certainly a slow motion nightmare and a massive enviro-clusterfuck.

Two, I respect Michio Kaku.

But, Three, I'm sorry, but Alex Jones, Russia Today, "NaturalNews" and the like are NOT reputable sources. I think there needs to be some additional information that the status is markedly different than it was, say, a couple months ago. COULD things go real south with the reactors and spent pools? Yes. And I'm awfully concerned about things like the cesium that has entered the pacific food chain.

But "HOLY SHIT ITS WAY WORSE RIGHT NOW THAN IT WAS EVER BEFORE"... some of these "sources" have been saying this stuff all along.

[flamingdem]

34. In this special case we might have to go to those sources

since there is so little coverage.

Most of it can be checked against other news sources. Arnie Gundersen and Michio are making a LOT of noise over this right now I believe it's due to the slow timeframe being discussed and further deterioration of No. 4 and the discovery that there are only 3 feet of water in No. 3 when they believed it was 30 feet. That plus extra earthquake activity is setting off their alarms that resources from around the world must be put on this asap or we will live to REGRET IT.

Regrets are very uncomfortable as is the health care for hundreds of thousands with cancer.

I think they detect more lying from Tepco also.

[Warren DeMontague]

36. I remember A. Gunderson saying similar stuff about spontaneous fission 6 months ago.

I think the danger here, with hyperbole, is you have a VERY serious situation that is not getting the mainstream coverage it deserves, so the temptation is to "sex it up" and make it sound like something awful is happening right now.

Something awful is happening, but I don't think its any more dangerous or worse than it was a week or two ago.

[flamingdem]

38. take a look at the video I just posted below

also recent, there is new evidence, I don't think they are crying wolf just for attention, we owe them for telling us ahead of time that there is a high chance of fallout in the USA

[Warren DeMontague]

39. Will check it out.

Believe me, I'm on the W. Coast, I take it quite seriously.

[flamingdem]

41. Me too. Thus the need to make myself pay attention!

I just don't want to be half asleep on this one.

It's true though I'm still digging trying to see exactly what set off this latest sense of urgency, it had certainly drifted out of my consciousness.

What can we do if SFP #4 catches fire? It will burn for a loong time and cannot be extinguished apparently. So that means a long period of exposure of lots of hot particles and contamination of fruits and vegetables, etc.

[Warren DeMontague]

42. If SFP 4 catches on fire, that's a major fucking problem.

Let's all hope that doesn't happen.

[flamingdem]

40. Here's another source - a Japanese guy who follows the situation closey

http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/

excerpt:
Monday, May 14, 2012
"Black Dust" in Tokyo? With 243,000 Bq/Kg of Radioactive Cesium

Freelance journalist Rei Shiva [Shiba] writing for Nikkan Spa, a daily tabloid in Japan (part; 5/15/2012):

福島県南相馬市内で発見された超強力な放射能を持つ謎の“黒い粉”が話題になったのは今年２月のこと。

It was this February when the super-radioactive and mysterious "black dust" found in Minami Soma City in Fukushima Prefecture was in the news.

1kgあたり108万ベクレル」というケタ違いの線量は衝撃的なものの、「南相馬での特殊な事例」として受け止められていた。ところが、その「黒い粉」は東京都内の至るところに存在しているという。

Although 1.08 million Bq/kg was shocking, it was considered to be specific only to Minami Soma. However, I've been told that "black dust" exists everywhere in Tokyo.

[dixiegrrrrl]

56. See my post upthread #22, video.

I consider Arnie Gunderson a reputable source.
I also consider the radio link in the OP a reputable source.

I think the reason "some of these "sources" have been saying" it is worse all along is because it IS worse all along.
It is worse all along because the extent of the damage was difficult to determine initially, still is difficult,
the radiation is too high to allow much close up evaluation
then there were the 3 reactor explosions,
and the damaged reactors, esp. # 4, have been leaking radiation continuously, into the air, into the sea.

Do you remember that originally the problem was rated "maybe" as high as 3, "but nowhere as bad as Chernobyl"
then raised to a 4 rating, etc.?
so,yes, "WORSE RIGHT NOW THAN IT WAS EVER BEFORE" has been valid every month from day 1, because the reality of Fukishima is that more "worse" problems have been slowly revealed.

[flamingdem]

37. Arnie Gundersen and colleague on filters, particles, nuclear fallout

[malaise]

47. And the world remains silent

There is no fourth estate - just corporations with one vested interest-profit -money trumps life.

[dixiegrrrrl]

59. I love the irony that they have to breath the same air we do.

Almost like a Twilight Zone show...
ends with the creators of death dying themselves as they clutch their piles of ill gotten gains.

[malaise]

61. All the money in their world won't save their generations

as they continue to fugg up the planet

[dixiegrrrrl]

62. kicking.....because it is an important issue.