Published: April 20th, 2012 at 12:06 pm ET
|
Follow-up to: Japan Times on Melt Through: "Molten 'lava' melted bottom of containment vessel," says nuclear engineer given access by top official -- Huge amounts of fission materials released into environment
Title: World is ignoring most important lesson from Fukushima nuclear disaster
Source: Christian Science Monitor
Author: Kenichi Ohmae
Date: April 5, 2012
[...] Yet another false assumption involved the containment vessel, an invention of nuclear engineers to assure nearby inhabitants that, if there were an unimaginable accident and fission products leaked out of the core, they would be confined inside and not leak out into the external environment. This long-held myth was also broken by Fukushima No.1, as the molten fuel dropped through the pressure vessel and the “nuclear lava” melted the bottom of the containment vessel, leaking a huge amount of fission gasses and particles to the air and water. [...]
Yomiuri: “The worst-case scenario is a China syndrome” [...] A China syndrome refers to a situation in which nuclear fuel in a reactor melts and goes through a containment vessel -Masao Yoshida, former chief of the Fukushima Daiichi plant
More from Ohmae:
- Fukushima Investigation: "Within one day complete meltdown and melt through occurred" -- "There is no way that gov't did not know this" (VIDEO)
- Fukushima Report Introduced by Top Official Hosono: "Other reactors are all in considerably severe condition" -- 14 total; Dai-ni, Onagawa, Tokai -- "Extreme situations, though not much has been broadcast" (VIDEO)
Published: April 20th, 2012 at 12:06 pm ET
|


sending...
is this an admission of china sydrome? or is it just safe to assume that china syndrome has occured…
Report Comment
An admission that there was a breach of containment perhaps? Again, China Syndrome is a misnomer. The corium masses don't keep melting down. They get pushed a net distance UP when hitting water by steam, get cooled in the process, start heating up again, and then dropping back down.
Not sure if it's reached that stage, but if it really has, I'm sure TEPCO will be gracious enough to tell us in, oh, about 3 years.
Report Comment
Regarding NUCLEAR REACTOR RECERTIFICATION; none of them deserve to be recertified for even ONE day! Find out why…
Aging Reactors, Lies, Deceptions, Profits And Earthquakes; via A Green Road Blog http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/03/aging-reactors-lies-deceptions-profits.html
The Diablo You Don't Know; via A Green Road Blog
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/04/diablo-you-dont-know.html
On 3/11; 15 Nuclear Reactors In Japan Were Damaged, Not 3 or 4
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/03/14-nuclear-reactors-at-4-japan-sites.html
TEPCO Loses ALL Insurance Coverage; Japanese Nuclear Plants; Via A Green Road Blog
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/03/tepco-loses-insurance-coverage-for-all.html
Fukushima; Today's Titantic and Costa Concordia; via A Green Road Blog
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/04/fukushima-todays-titantic-and-costa.html
Report Comment
Finally the information is getting more and more mainstream!
Report Comment
lessons? It is simple shut down nuclear power
Report Comment
Thanks norbu,
Even though oft-repeated and obvious, you still deserve a Nobel Prize for repeating it.
(The solution is staring us in the face).
Cheers,
Report Comment
But – - is it too late : ( with SO MUCH DAMAGE
haplessly already having taken place?
My biggest fears…
Report Comment
Yeah. No more NRC. Lets have a DSC instead. "Decommissioning Safety Committee" Run by non nuclear. The energy companies can pay for it instead of taxpayers too.
Report Comment
Here, here, Stopnp! That is a brilliant idea! We need a truly unbiased commission whose main focus is decommissioning these dinosaurs! You think Congress will go for it? Or do we need to get a petition started..?
Report Comment
SILENCE COMING TO FUKUSHIMA
http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/04/silence-coming-to-fukushima/#.T5GQGA9uxkQ.facebook
Report Comment
I love nature, what are they doing putting meters on birds for? spend the energy on sealing the reactors. silence is coming to the world if they ignore what needs to be done much longer. peace
Report Comment
@ Whoopie…Thanks for this post…she says as she clutches her coffee table size version of..The Encyclopedia of North American Birds.
I'm in agony..simple as that.
Report Comment
I am too Heart.
Report Comment
I have a little pair of doves tatooed on my shoulder…tears are flooding my keyboard…
I damn TEPCO to hell again….
Report Comment
You know, I can actually remember back when red-headed woodpeckers were as common as house wrens. Grew up and got too busy (living in town) to notice when they went away. Thus my amazement years later to learn they were extinct.
Now I'm paying more attention.
Report Comment
Hi..JoyB..red-headed woodpeckers..like "Woody"..yep,gone..
Report Comment
We harbor some rare species in this neck of the woods, which we don't usually let the outside world know about (they could find out if they really wanted to know). We SHARE the forest, don't try to dominate or tame it.
A few years ago 'they' did happen to notice that piliated woodpeckers are NOT really extinct yet – we've a handful of mating pairs within a mile around me. We are so protective even the hunters are aware not to shoot into the trees. None of us can live here if the natives can't.
Report Comment
Guys,….I swear I had a red-headed woodpecker land and peck in a tree about 100 feet from me this past December,…a day or so before my last roomies gave me the heave-ho. I felt it was a 'special visitation'!
Report Comment
Pilliated woodpeckers are relative monsters compared to the basic red-headed years ago. Three times the size, black-and-white with a red crest as opposed to the full red head of the little ones. Here's a site Wiki that says they're not extinct (thank goodness!)…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-headed_Woodpecker
Here's a pic of the Pileated (a much bigger bird, just as rare)…
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_gp_8G2X1HG4/TGFRW6I9l6I/AAAAAAAABNY/YSROzOve-EY/s1600/pileated_woodpecker.jpg
I love woodpeckers as much as robins in spring or hummingbirds in summer or whip-o-wills any time. Or finches or wrens or nightingales or larks… I got my name from my Filipino nursemaid (born in Olongapo), who noted that I could talk to birds, and they'd land on/around me. The name was "Joy."
Report Comment
Yes, I believe a bird would land and 'light' on you "JOY"!
Must confess,…..from the pics you included,….'twas NOT the full red-head that I saw after all!
It was the latter one,…not much white on the guy I saw.
Report Comment
Red-headed wood peckers somewhere ..ya.. special..
They are not here..along with several on the list below ..including those pesky grackle.
Between the BP oil spill and Fuku the birds are in trouble.
http://www.timesobserver.com/page/content.detail/id/543269/Low-numbers-for-bird-count.html?nav=5011
http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/20/11306603-cat-island-pelicans-see-their-habitat-shrinking-away-two-years-after-gulf-oil-spill?lite
Report Comment
PS.I partially blame this as well…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mju9oYwI36c
NO NUKES…NO NUKES.
Report Comment
Oh My, Ohmae-San.
OK so he's a nuke engineer who admits that the GE Mk1 is a crock design, so why isn't he calling for all NPPs of this design to be shut down immediately? That would be the logical conclusion.
Ohmae is totally disingenuous to describe the GE Mk1 containment reliability as a "long-held myth". Industry insiders have known for 30 years that these small wet containments were susceptible to catastrophic failure, so it has been a "LONG HELD DIRTY SECRET" a conspiracy of industry and regulators that has allowed the GE Mk1 to stay in dangerous operation around the world at multiple sites e.g Indian Point upstate NY.
If probability theory has got some fatal flaw I don't know but corporate corruption building NPPs on seismic fault lines, on coastlines with histories of massive tsunamis in living memory, we are just Stupid White Men full of hubris to think we could get away with the risk. Hubris must be Greek word for excrement I think.
CSM scatters article with pro-nuke links to add further insult and bias
Report Comment
Nuke power already massively subsidized by ratepayers, so we are going to pay even more, and provide free insurance to this toxic industry, so it can install expensive redundancy backup systems? Expect to pay over USD $1.00/kWh once you add up the cost of 500,000 years of toxic waste storage. Enough corporate welfare, already!! The waste problem alone is reason enough for us and our legislators to drive a stake through the heart of this industry
Report Comment
SEriously I ran the numbers on nuke and it was .62 to .92 long term costs per kwH in 2012 dollars.
What a tragedy
Report Comment
Not a problem in the USA. We have laws leaving the nuclear power corporations with almost no liability in case of an accident. In the event of an accident they will pay only a small fine and leave the government to take over and clean up. For most nuclear plants in the US, running plants built for 40 years until they blow is a means to make a lot of profit without much reinvestment. Want safe or no nukes, just repeal their immunity to risk and criminal charges.
Report Comment
Yes, SnorkY2K! Repeal both their "immunity" and "impunity":
im·pu·ni·ty [im-pyoo-ni-tee]
noun
1. exemption from punishment
2. immunity from detrimental effects, as of an action
Report Comment
Hmm…let's try that again. My post above was not hyperlinked in the scrolling comments section at the right. Just a "…" appeared…?
What could cause that to happen?
This is a test. We will bring you back to your normal programming in just a minute.
Repost from above:
Yes, SnorkY2K! Repeal both their "immunity" and "impunity":
im·pu·ni·ty [im-pyoo-ni-tee]
noun
1. exemption from punishment
2. immunity from detrimental effects, as of an action
Report Comment
"Hubris must be Greek word for excrement I think."
Between you and Heart, you had me laughing and crying at the same time.
Report Comment
Oh No!! Only 26 % of People in Japan More Concerned about Food Safety after Disasters | Fukushima Diary: http://bit.ly/IEfkIs
Report Comment
That would be the 26% who realize that their food is coming from Fukushima. The other 74% believe their labels.
Report Comment
The CBO does financial analysis on the US budget, and clearly states that all nuke is shaky at best. Shaky doesn't stir up warm feelings
It may not be possible to charge borrowers the full cost of a loan guarantee because of the high degree of uncertainty involved. When adverse selection is severe, attempts to offset expected losses with an increase in fees can backfire because the higher fees drive away creditworthy borrowers, making it impossible to provide a loan guarantee that does not involve a subsidy.
Full scoop here, great ammunition against nukes
http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/2012/04/cbo-does-financial-analysis-on-us.html
Report Comment
This is awesome news Stock! If you recall, we predicted just this, months ago. The economics (of lack thereof) is the Achilles heel of nuclear power. They're only gotten away with the nuclear power scam because they were able to hide the real costs. Now, more than ever, investors will be looking behind the curtain.
Report Comment
Okay.. but WHERE IS THE NUCLEAR LAVA NOW?
It still seems like they just don't know…
Report Comment
bincbom,……That's ALL I want to KNOW also!
This gives new meaning to, "This is a LIQUID situation"!
Report Comment
4.1 just hit. Look at that sucker!!
http://weather.goo.ne.jp/earthquake/12042102290.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Report Comment
I looked on my Google earth overlay and you can see about 7 earthquakes all clustered around Fukey – actually 30 odd miles south of it but all 7 in a small 10 mile radius near Iwaki.
Bad place for a nuke reactor, or spent fuel pool.
Report Comment
New definition of insanity: Letting a private company/corporation manage an international disaster bigger than any in the world's history.
Report Comment
+++ 1000.
Report Comment
insanity is that thousands of 'engineers' helped build these time bombs: destroy earth, are they all dumb or what ;/
Report Comment
ML,
eh he !
Allowing company/corporation to tell goverments what to do !
That goes for World Wide !
Report Comment
They can build 'em,…but they can't stop 'em!
Frankenstein????
Report Comment
the nuclear explosion also released a lot of radioactive particles.
Report Comment