Fukushima operator allowed excessive pressure

[jpak]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1124420/1/.html

The operator of Japan's nuclear plant let pressure in one reactor climb far beyond the level the facility was designed to withstand, which may have worsened the nuclear accident, The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday.

Citing results of its own inquiry, the newspaper said that Japanese rules call for waiting much longer venting the potentially dangerous steam that builds up as reactors overheat.

More than 85,000 people are living in emergency shelters after being forced to evacuate from their homes near the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, which was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

The plant, where reactor cooling systems were knocked out, has been hit by a series of explosions and fires, and radiation has leaked into the air, ground and sea in the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl 25 years ago.

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[Exultant Democracy]

1. I'm shocked, shocked to think that a corporation would put profit over the peoples safety.

[Sirveri]

2. Except that TEPCO doesn't stand to profit at all from this action.

So why would they allow an overpressure event to occur in the first place?

[kristopher]

5. Why are you so intent on protecting the nuclear industry?

There is a clear and obvious financial motive - their policy restricts releases of radioactivity into the air during more "minor" events with the trade-off of a lower safety margin for severe problems.
That avoids problems with public PERCEPTION of safety and allows them greater control over decisions affecting profitability - including building new plants or extending the life of worn out plants.

[Sirveri]

6. So they thought that this was a 'minor' event?

And those casualty procedures that they get drilled on and tested on? They re-wrote those? Didn't tell anyone? This couldn't be operator error? Equipment failure? It's all because TEPCO stands to make a couple dollars off of it?

[Gregorian]

3. At this moment we are all living on the edge of the next release of radioactivity.

One more earthquake. One more accident, and we all live with radioactive particles that we'll be inhaling. This is already a disaster that people don't even realize.

Yes, we can withstand bombardment of radioactivity from without. However, one thing people are really not realizing fully is that from within, we are highly susceptible to radioactive particles inside our bodies.

We are at the top of the food chain. Everything we eat will have the potential for containing the dangerous particles.

Chernobyl, Fukushima, years of atomic bomb toying around are going to have consequences that no one will be able to point to for cause.

Nice.

[DCKit]

4. Total BS. That has NOTHING to do with what's going on now. nt