Published: June 13th, 2012 at 12:06 am ET
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Experts warn of possible catastrophe at Japan reactor
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (Germany’s largest press agency)
June 13, 2012
Some nuclear experts are warning that spent fuel rods at a damaged plant in Japan could trigger a major catastrophe despite the government’s declaration in December that the emergency phase of the nation’s worst nuclear disaster was over.[...]
Most of the assemblies are spent fuel rods with a total amount of radioactive caesium equal to 5,000 atomic bombs of the kind that destroyed Hiroshima, said Hiroaki Koide, assistant professor at the Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute.
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If a large quake or other event were to cause the pool to crack and drain, it could lead to a new catastrophe, Koide said.
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Koide said he thinks TEPCO has been working on it with a sense of crisis, but that the government is eager to restart idled reactors and appears to lack that sense.
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Published: June 13th, 2012 at 12:06 am ET
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It would be interesting if someone actually made a list of the spent fuel pools, including the amount of spent fuel stored, the age of the pool, the backup plans in place, and more critical, their long term plan to move the spent fuel into dry cask, in an isolated, guarded environmentally safe location. Spent fuel pool number is the warning bell ringing, it represents but a small fraction of the danger. After that list is completed, it might also be interesting to publish estimated population in 10, 25, and 50 mile circles around those spent fuel pools. How many areas do we really believe are invincible — have no risk of earthquake, flood, hurricane, power loss, rusted pipes or concrete fatigue, and surviving all that, immune from terrorist action, or acts of war. How tragic to imagine a nation with superior military power falling prey to nuclear health/environmental destruction due to a minor terrorist plot, natural disaster, or simple construction fatigue. Time to demand long term storage, guarded, sealed, isolated from urban populations and water sheds. Do not limit your concern to this damaged spent fuel pool in Japan.
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Your points are important, and i do not believe that you are calling any kind of storage completely safe. Getting as much fuel as possible into dry casks would be a great first step. If Fuku #4 had half the fuel in it that would be an improvement. Getting as much as possible away from population centers would also help. How many spent fuel bundles are at San Onofre?
Obviously spent fuels pools are much more dangerous than has ever been considered. Fukushima has given us reason to question, study, and make major changes to spent fuel storage, not that it will ever be 100% safe anywhere. But now it has been over 16 months since this all began and yet nothing has been done. Nothing has been proposed. Nothing has even been admitted to be wrong. Complete stonewalling of the subject. Their excuses are pathetic: this is not a question of tsunamis,or earthquakes or plants in foreign countries. This is a question about the inherent design and assumptions about spent fuel storage in our neighborhoods and in our country.
The silence is deafening.
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Long Term Nuclear Waste Storage Fatal Flaw By Dr. Busby; via A Green Road http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/06/long-term-nuclear-waste-storage-fatal.html
The Fallacy Of High Level Nuclear Waste Geological Storage; via A Green Road
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/04/fallacy-of-high-level-nuclear-waste.html
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From that article: "The government estimated the amount of caesium—137 already released by the Fukushima disaster were equal to that of 168 Hiroshima bombs."
SP: Maybe for one day it was 168, but any figures from Tepco are always a hundred fold low. I figure maybe about 10,000 Hiroshima bombs worth of ingredients are loose in the air, soil, and the water systems. Enough to have killed everyone in Japan ten times over except for the fact 95% of the emissions landed outside Japan's borders.
They are the bastards who had the gall to swear in court that the radiation deposited on private property now belonged to those owners. And the corrupt government backed them up in the lawsuit hearing for the owners of a golf course ruined by Fukushima emissions.
Crazy times…that would be like you suing the police force for accidentally shooting you in the head, but they assert the bullet now belongs to you!
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dodge:
"environmentally safe location"…..no such thing
"have no risk of earthquake, flood, hurricane, power loss, rusted pipes or concrete fatigue,"…….no such thing
"immune from terrorist action, or acts of war."…no such thing
Sorry to be such a buzz kill.
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Dr. Koide's Testimony to the Japanese Diet May 23,2011 Parts 1 & 2 "Nuclear Energy Is An Illusion" and "About Fukushima" in videos
(also current world-wide Fukushima forecasts)
http://realitycheck.no-ip.info/nnn.html
jet streams, rad effects and remediation protocols
http://realitycheck.no-ip.info/forum/index.php/board,24.0.html
for those in USA heeding the call
http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
Japanese consulate info around here somewhere……….
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current world wide Fukushima fallout forecasts and new Caldicott at that Nuclear News Now link .. forgot that ya
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This is a very good short video summary of the Daiichi nuclear disasters(s).
This footage is speeded up; you will probably have to pause it periodically to read all of the summaries and might want to watch it more than once. It is an excellent factual summary of what has happened at the Japanese Daiichi nuclear plants.
It's a very sobering re-cap of what has happened so far and really makes me think that we are already 'doomed'. (As is periodically speculated here and elsewhere – but no one really wants to believe it and so we tend to retreat, in our minds, from the 'cold, hard facts.')
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9xmIXeBrNQ
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Good animation of R4 SFP boil off/partial melt/explosion.
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nice video reposted to FB and Twitter
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Thanks bleep, I've been looking for a good, short vid-summary and this is it.
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Atomists engineers,walking in the Gloria.Build a pool on the fuel, in 30 m height. To argue with is resistant to earthquake.Swimming pool you make on the roof of your home?
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It is evident..that his statement about TEPCO doing their best..shows he is misinformed.
TEPCO is going through an imagined repair process.
The condition of the reactors and the condition of the ground itself has degenerated.
It is evident that Mr. Koide does not realize the condition is ongoing.
He is correct..however..about the start up of new reactors.
The reactors in Japan must not start up again.
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From what I have heard or read, the Japanese are disinclined to come up with 'original' ideas, because if it fails, they're held in contempt of society. OR something like that. So, its literally the culture of the Japanese (Asians) that are hindering critical creative thinking, because no one wants to fail. Its ingrained in their psyche's, and no way to cut through it. Totally amazing. The moronic Left that touts the insanely moronic 'multicult' PC ideology are now suffering its devastating predictable outcome, and may ultimately get wiped out, by Political Correctness.
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Um…you're just trolling…right?
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Wow
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