AP IMPACT: Nuclear plant downplayed tsunami risk

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By YURI KAGEYAMA and JUSTIN PRITCHARD

TOKYO (AP) - In planning their defense against a killer tsunami, the people running Japan's now-hobbled nuclear power plant dismissed important scientific evidence and all but disregarded 3,000 years of geological history, an Associated Press investigation shows.

The misplaced confidence displayed by Tokyo Electric Power Co. was prompted by a series of overly optimistic assumptions that concluded the Earth couldn't possibly release the level of fury it did two weeks ago, pushing the six-reactor Fukushima Dai-ichi complex to the brink of multiple meltdowns.

Instead of the reactors staying dry, as contemplated under the power company's worst-case scenario, the plant was overrun by a torrent of water much higher and stronger than the utility argued could occur, according to an AP analysis of records, documents and statements from researchers, the utility and the Japan's national nuclear safety agency.

And while TEPCO and government officials have said no one could have anticipated such a massive tsunami, there is ample evidence that such waves have struck the northeast coast of Japan before - and that it could happen again along the culprit fault line, which runs roughly north to south, offshore, about 220 miles (350 kilometers) east of the plant.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20110327/D9M7Q4KO0.html

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A protester wears a mask during an antinuclear rally in Tokyo Sunday, March 27, 2011. Leaked water in Unit 2 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant measured 10 million times higher than usual radioactivity levels when the reactor is operating normally, Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Takashi Kurita told reporters in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

[plumbob]

1. Doesn't surprise me at all. The nuclear dump people here changed

the map of the Edwards Aquifer to show that it zoomed around in a little loop to miss their dump entirely, even though there are 100 year old windmills pumping water within 100 yards of the site.

They are so confident that nothing will leak that they got the state of Texas to agree to accept 100% financial liability for any leaks that do occur or else they wouldn't build it. But so many locals wanted those forklift operator jobs that they got the state to agree.

Ah, well, it must be handy to be able to think out both sides of your skull.

Until a by-God real disaster occurs, and your pants are at your ankles.

[TheWraith]

2. The article language is florid and rather tabloid, but yes, the location of the plant was terrible.

They played the odds, essentially, that a tsunami such as this one was incredibly unlikely. But odds are only indicators of probability, not possibility. The plant should have been located at higher ground. Or at the very least, the backup power supplies (diesel generators and battery banks) should have been placed in an elevated area to keep them safe.

That said, the ultimate solution is third generation plants in which the core coolant is gravity fed--that is to say, even if you have a total failure of everything, it keeps running because gravity and heat convection cycle the coolant, not pumps as in old designs.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

3. They didn't downplay the risk they, ignored it!

Expert: Japan nuclear plant owner warned of tsunami threat

Tokyo (CNN) -- A seismic researcher told CNN Sunday that he warned the owner of the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant two years ago that the facility could be vulnerable to a tsunami.

The owner, Tokyo Electric Power Company, appeared to ignore the warning, said seismologist Yukinobu Okamura.

TEPCO has not responded to Okamura's allegation

Okamura heads Japan's Active Fault & Earthquake Center. He said he told members of a TEPCO safety committee two years ago that data collected from layers of earth show that in the year 869 a massive tsunami devastated where the plant now is. The six-unit Fukushima Daiichi plant is located about 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of Tokyo.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/27/japan.nuclear.disaster/index.html

[Wilms]

4. And I thought having back-up generators at ground level was stupid.

The flooding disabled backup power generators, located in basements or on first floors, imperiling the nuclear reactors and their nearby spent fuel pools.