Published: May 26th, 2012 at 4:08 pm ET
|
Concerns Grow About Spent Fuel Rods at Damaged Nuclear Plant in Japan
New York Times
By HIROKO TABUCHI and MATTHEW WALD
May 26, 2012
[...]
Fourteen months after the accident, a pool brimming with used fuel rods and filled with vast quantities of radioactive cesium still sits on the top floor of a heavily damaged reactor building, covered only with plastic.
The public’s fears about the pool have grown in recent months as some scientists have warned that it has the most potential for setting off a new catastrophe
[...]
The fears over the pool at Reactor No. 4, amplified over the Web, are helping to undermine assurances by Tepco and the Japanese government that the Fukushima plant has been brought to a stable condition and are highlighting how complicated the cleanup of the site, expected to take decades, will be.
[...]
Published: May 26th, 2012 at 4:08 pm ET
|
sending...
This is a bit encouraging. We are having an effect.
Are we to feel guilty?
Well… I don't.
Long Live the Truth.
Report Comment
Long live the truth! Even if only .001% more realize I hope it makes a difference, though MY heart tells me no.
Report Comment
The "win" will come almost overnight. Dont be discouraged.
Report Comment
It's those damned 'activist scientists' and 'activist bloggers' undermining those good folks at TEPCO. That's why sooooo many here would make such lousy Republicans, you won't eat bull-shit no matter how many times they say it is ice cream. As far as getting the message out, I simply ask people with small children if they have had their thyroids checked yet because of the increased C34 and C37 floating about. You can only lead a horse to water…….
Report Comment
Thyroids risk has floated by after last September. The cesium goes for muscles especially the heart.
Report Comment
2 St. Paul Scout:
You can lead a horse to water … but you can't make it think.
Report Comment
Hmmm, as opposed to the paid trolls, shills, and PR tools?
ROFLMAO
I would hope that it all blows up in their face, but Japan and the world would carry the cost, not the ones that deserve a special hell of their very own.
Report Comment
Firefly reference?
Report Comment
No end in sight…no end to the coverups of the biggest, most dangerous 'bubble' in history.
Hot Particles (Fuel Fleas) From Fukushima Continue To Circulate Globally; via A Green Road Blog http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/04/hot-particles-from-fukushima-continue.html
We have had a stock market bubble burst, a real estate bubble burst, and a financial bubble burst. Now we are waiting for the carbon fuel, medical, military and nuclear bubbles to burst.
Each will have major repercussions..
They will burst, it is only a matter of time. None of them are sustainable; which is the definition of a bubble.
There are Boat loads of money being shoveled into each bubble daily. That keeps them inflating and growing bigger.
Report Comment
Greeny, you nailed it, those are exactly the things that I have studied, along with various cycles, fractals, and astronomic phenomenon.
90% to 95% of humans are "good", well good enough.
The 1% to 5% are pyschopaths, they lie their way to the top.
Report Comment
The Art of Deception: The Cult of Nuclearists, Uranium Weapons and Fraudulent Science; via A Green Road Blog
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/03/primer-in-art-of-deception-cult-of.html
Report Comment
Consciousness is the basic underlying problem..
A lack of consciousness leads to all of the problems we are having now.. and promotes the insane to the top.
American Indians believe that the pursuit of lots of money is the definition of mental illness…
I would post another link explaining this, but I would get in trouble with Admin…
Report Comment
I'd like to hear it. Would you please post in the Non-Nuclear Forum area?
Report Comment
"before an earthquake and tsunami set off the world’s second most serious nuclear crisis after Chernobyl." That article is CRIMINAL from the first line.
HIROKO TABUCHI and MATTHEW WALD
Kevin, add those two names to your list
Report Comment
Journalism ethics and standards
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalism_ethics_and_standards
They must have missed that week of class in journalism school
Report Comment
And the class on how to do research. Yes please, Kevin. Sick 'em!
Fukushima vs. Chernobyl fallout comparisons
http://realitycheck.no-ip.info/forum/index.php?topic=20.msg463#msg463
Report Comment
Kevin Blanch, for the curious. He's in the mood for lawsuits
http://realitycheck.no-ip.info/nnn.html
Report Comment
chemfood – thanks for explaining which Kevin we were referring to there…
kevindblanch on youtube, check him out peeps, he's got a huge voice and is way more pissed off than Whoopie
Report Comment
Hi..Chemfood.. Hope you are having a good day.
There are those.. that wonder how anonymous bloggers can display affection for one another.
Large wonder.
I've said it before here and I'm going to say it again.
I love Kevin Blanch.
Report Comment
INAB, if it were me I'd be pissed off, too.
Report Comment
Did msm just admit their ineptitude?
Report Comment
F**K YOU NYTIMES! F**K YOU!
WHO HAS BEEN WATCHING THIS OVER A YEAR, 24/7/365 PLUS?!?!
WE HAVE! WHO HAS BEEN SKIRTING THIS MAJOR CATASTROPHE 4 OVER A YEAR?!? YOU HAVE!! F**K YOU! GRrrrrrrrrrr!
Report Comment
I REFUSE TO TWEET OR POST TO MY FACEBOOK. Sorry Heart, I wish I felt like you do.
Report Comment
Facebook is their tool. Use it at your peril.
Report Comment
I agree, did the "hard cancel" on all my accounts of Facebook.
In 5 to 15 years it will be seen as the great evil that exposed viewpoints AND interpersonal relationships. Something that Big Brother should not be allowed to have on such a convenient basis.
Report Comment
Stock, I'd like to do that (FB hard cancellation). Would you please post the method to the Non-Nuclear Topics Forum area? Thanks.
Report Comment
Esp. want to after reading Robert Gates' recent statements about internet privacy and related subjects.
Report Comment
Report Comment
How much more "assurance" can this planet take and still survive?
Report Comment
In the end, this article was a heap of shitt, a ecco of past weeks driwell about the SFP4, and the sole reason for my slience is this.
The sheer scale and scope will eventualy just reaveil it self, the downplaying and flattout lies about the scale(fuK. Daiichi and Daiini, a.s.o. also patsualy "confimed").
I have so far no imidiate threat, so I just wait.
The scale of Tyrhoids should be alarm anouf, the speed is mutch faster than Tjernovyl and should by it self be a wourying.
I just wait, the end is right now, nowhere is sight and what we all encountr is something completly new, and we aøø know it.
Never mind the lies, the truth wil rise, the question sould be, to what price.
A world, just to satisfy and save some shearholders asses.
halleluja
Thats all there is to do For me.
Wait.
peace
You can runn boy, but you cant hide. For a decade, jupp, but the Range of Isotops from Fukushima, dumb fu..ers, you better make that milleniums.
The fact right now, fu..ers, is infact yours.
The USA wil obilterate along whith Japan, som whos ass is on the line.
All of uss, infact.
The clock is ricking.
You better wake the fu.. up.
peace
“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.”
― Confucius
Report Comment
Maybe that is why Buddhists liked those "reflecting pools" so much! LOL
Report Comment
True, scientists are warning of a catastrophe, and public fears are growing. But the "undermine assurances by Tepco" means absolutely nothing. NY-Times was forced to include that part.
Report Comment
Do not kid yourself. The " public" is as blissfully unaware as always. We stand alone.
Report Comment
So true FAF….so damn true.
Report Comment
Yes faraway & Whoopie…Sadly, Tragically True.
Report Comment
I think 10% "get it" but it needs to go to 100 million monkeys (30% in the US) before real recognition hits, and then it need to go to action point.
Report Comment
I'll never teach your monkey french
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jSpMPv07tA
Report Comment
Anger solves nothing.
Making the NYT look like the Jezebel pressitude is has become in the face of overwhelming truth does.
Please stay calm enenewers. Speak the truth and continue to do so.
It is our only hope to save what can be saved.
Report Comment
Exactly!
Report Comment
Thank you Mission. I took a break and feel better. It DOES help by God!
Report Comment
Well said. thank you for that.
Report Comment
Mission spoke these words of wisdom:
"Anger solves nothing"
SP: I agree.
There is need to accuse or shout. Just the grim facts will suffice. Remember Benito Juarez who denounced the condescending air of Maximilan of Hapsburg in the 1860s struggle against the French trying to enslave the country of Mexico:
"It is given to men, sometimes, to attack the rights of others, to seize their goods, to threaten the life of those who defend their nationality, and to make that the highest virtues seem crimes, and to give their own vices the luster of true virtue. But there is a thing that cannot be reached either by falsification nor perfidy, and that is the tremendous verdict of history. She will judge us."
Maximilan was chilled to the core when he read that letter because he had been told Juarez was an illiterate Indian peasant.
Maximilan paid for his bluster with his life before a Juarez firing squad June 19, 1867.
There are Japanese nuclear cabal bureacrats deserving of a severe punishment for their coverups, their complacency, their greed and their basic lack of respect for human life in the face of the world's greatest crisis since the last Ice Age.
They will face the verdict of history and be self-punished by deadly radioactive toxins in their food, drink, and the air they breathe. Their families and loved ones will suffer terribly. Some will try to flee Japan and many may have already done so. They will not escape the wrath of history.
Report Comment
Oh..I'm angry ..Whoopie..know doubt about it.
Still…it is evident that the internet media is getting some notice.
HEY TEPCO.."the Web"..is a form of communication not an entity of it's own. The web does not think for itself..but is an exchange of ideas from around the world ..in which an individual can add or take from.. according to their own personal choices.
So…TEPCO ..when you address "the Web"..you are talking to the voice and intellect of the people.
Know it.
Report Comment
For them there is only the Web of their deceit. These mfers know nothing of truth, as you well know……
Report Comment
I love you SJ. I "get you" NOW!
WATCH OUT TEPCO! WE KNOW THE TRUTH!
THE TRUTH IS SETTING US…horrified BUT FREE!
Report Comment
Whoopie, sadly the truth does not set us free, it just allows us to understand how [un]free we are.
knowing about the nuclear issue does not make it go away, it highlights our helplessness.
if we want to be free then we need to do a whole lot more growing up. we need to behave like adults, we need to take control… something that most people on here will easily accomplish but not the majority of people.
the truth is a way to educate people, the lie is a way to keep people under control but the truth itself will not set us free only knowledge will do that.
Report Comment
This is good for opening dialog. It is obvious we have the
attention of the NYTimes. Tell us NYTimes how do we
"help undermine assurances by Tepco and the Japanese government that the Fukushima plant has been brought to a stable condition".
Does this mean that if we stop talking about the threat
of this disaster, it will simply go away.
Log on, under nytimes and answer. Let us talk about it.
Waiting!
Report Comment
Anyone that looks at a picture of the reactors before and after and takes the word of TEPCO that all is fine is willfully ignorant. And willfull ignorance is hard to overcome.
Report Comment
There are many inaccuracies in the article, but at least they are reporting the story. More people will now search for more info.
The NYT is read across the world, this will lead more enquiring minds here and to other sites that are endeavoring to reveal the truth.
Report Comment
"AMPLIFIED over the Web"…
Because the MSM won't say the 'P' word. (Plutonium)
Because the MSM can only say the word 'RADIATION' if it's in the same sentence as banana or in conjunction with a cell phone or if the prior sentence said "there is no immediate concern".
as of today it's been:
442 days… of accumulation and spreading, no end in sight
Let's be clear:
That's 1 year 2 months and 15 days of RADIATION Contamination.
Report Comment
Another WORD that isn't being said: CORIUM
442 days = feels like a lifetime.
Report Comment
Well..Mr. Hosono has done his work..
All is well in Fukushima.
History is full is deceivers,theives,traitors,and psychopaths.
Mr. Hosono..is in the rankings.
He thinks he's slick.
He bought a little time..that's all.
Report Comment
"help undermine assurances by Tepco and the Japanese government that the Fukushima plant has been brought to a stable condition".
Hip hip Hooray! Hip hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray! This headline has made my day/week. Everyone here should give themselves damn good pat on the back.
Keep up the undermining. Job well done. Now lets go even harder!
Report Comment
The Ministry of Truth = NY Times
“The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly – it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over.”
― Joseph Goebbels
When the day comes that this building does fall down, many will see it as still standing in their denial of the truth, like seeing five fingers when there are only four showing.
Report Comment
SMT nails the Big Brother suckups:
"The Ministry of Truth = NY Times"
SP: Yes NYT… You are an old wornout propaganda machine. Like Tepco and Obama, nobody believes or respects you.
As for the lovely Hiroko… Prior to this piece I had actually respected your understated articles knowing you had shitty mass media editors. But this one gives me a really sour feeling. You sold your soul to the devil if you don't renounce this article.
In Tokyo you will face the amplified wrath of more than just the web masses… radiation respects no one. You better have a quick exit planned when the SHTF. Most Tokyo residents will not be afforded that opportunity.
Report Comment
I continue to show them one finger, in the open
Report Comment
I was concerned about the annual Cottonwood tree fallout and if it is a transporter, haven't found out yet, but those little fuzzballs I sure hope are buckyball free…they come in like snow…they come into my garage like locusts as of yesterday…so I looked a little (not much) :
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Cottonwood_Crater
I guess there are bigger fish a fryin' in this crap meet if 4 goes belly up.
Report Comment
IF IT IS SO STABLE YOU AT THE NY TIMES GO SETUP A NEWS ROOM ON SITE YOU ARE LISTENING TO PEOPLE IN JAPAN THAT FIRST DO NOT CARE ABOUT THEIR PEOPLE OR THE WORLD THEY HAVE EMBARRASSED THE WORLD AND YOUR PAPER HAS NOT EVEN RUN MAJ0OR STORIES .
Report Comment
BTW Mark… Not to be a damn nag… But I have wondered if your cap locks key is stuck.
Typing in all caps is considered a form of written SHOUTING and as such been highly discouraged as improper posting for the past 40 years. One word capitalized is fine… Not an entire post.
You may verbally shoot the messenger, but your posts will be much more effective and readable without all caps. I am not a touch typist myself and yet have published over two million words in newspapers, magazines, and the Internet.
Thanks for your consideration. If you have eyesight limitations that requires all caps then let us know and I will certainly respect a special caplocks exemption.
Report Comment
Sick, Mark was screaming at NYT'S, not us.
Thanks for understanding!
Report Comment
I find Marks caps are easier to read. sickputer. try to stay on topic.
Thanks
Report Comment
i was shouting
Report Comment
Good point, yo may occasionally rant and shout, 1 of 15 posts may be shouts without being a chicken little.
Report Comment
As you should be. From the highest mountain top as it were…..
Report Comment
Oh yeah…SSDD. "Move along folks, there's nothing here for you to see."
Report Comment
nope,
maybe more Silent Sound Spread Spectrum
Report Comment
OT:
18 minutes ago 5.5 Bonin Islands, Japan region
2 hours ago 5.0 Bonin Islands, Japan region
Report Comment
Now the web is faulty? Tepco undermines themselves. There cannot be a greater reason to call all hands attention. The gravity of the nuclear farce itself is undermined, An intellectual war.
Report Comment
You have to sit back and give out a good laugh.
The Wall Street Journal and now the New York Times
can no longer ignore the reality of Fukushima. the
1% must be feeling somewhat insecure now that they
realize their wealth , their influence and their
denial systems will no longer protect them or insulate
them from the ongoing horror of nuclear meltdowns.
How many power meals can they eat now that is free of radiation?
They fly in the jet stream in their private planes breathing contaminated air.
They fly east to do business in China and the Far East in search of wealth, but
in fact they are jeopardizing their lives. Fools they are!
These two newspapers are undergoing seismic quakes.
G_d damn right the web is undermining the false assurances.
It is a truthful statement.
Report Comment
Sam..
"They fly in the jet stream in their private planes breathing contaminated air. They fly east to do business in China and the Far East in search of wealth, but in fact they are jeopardizing their lives."
And, they will get sick and die sooner, for the silence of their MSM shills they have corrupted to protect them, will kill them.
How about that?
Report Comment
I wondered the same thing. What is the plan? We die quietly so they can sail their caviar powered yachts a little longer before they are killed by radiation too?
Report Comment
they are in denial, anything to preserve PPP power, privilege, pension.
Report Comment
Going beyond the headline, there is some stuff worth "unpacking" in the NYT story. For example, in no particular order:
1. "now that the three nuclear reactors that suffered meltdowns are in a more stable state," (What's that about, other than spin?)
2. The photo presumably was taken May 26 and is therefore the closest thing we have to a fresh closeup of unit 4. Can we make out details to confirm/disconfirm any of the recent chatter about events at #4, such as being able to see through it to the ocean?
3. The photo seems to show the touring visitors standing on the ground. In the previous bus tour they had to stand on a metal plate because the ground was too "hot". What has changed?
4. “It was taboo to raise questions about the spent fuel that was piling up,” … “But it was clear that here was nowhere for the spent fuel to go.” (This is not a Japanese phenomenon. Why is this not an election issue in every nuke country that has elections?)
5. "Even the roof that used to exist would be no match if the rods caught fire" (So what?… it does not exist)
6. "… a quandary facing the global nuclear industry: how to safely store — and eventually recycle or dispose of — spent nuclear fuel, which stays radioactive for tens of thousands of years." (Surely this single point is the ultimate deal-breaker for nuke).
Plenty more, but you get the idea and this post is already long.
Report Comment
The takeaway spin at the end of the article is:
"In the end, the company was able to load a limited number of casks at the plant. Unlike the fuel pool at Reactor No. 4 that has caused so much worry, they survived the disaster unscathed."
Don't fall for it, folks. The "dry cask solution" just kicks the can down the road a bit farther.
Report Comment
The can is already open, it needs to be kicked to safer storage, dry cask is the best we can hope for.
Report Comment
Still picking away at the photo:
1. What is the standing water on either side of the tour group, especially on the (viewer's) right side?
2. What are the three ordinary-looking (non-specialized) vehicles doing on the site?
3. What is the sidewalk-like structure on the (viewer's) left side of the image?
4. Any vegetation to be seen? If so, what is its apparent condition?
What… if anything… can we learn from this new photo about the actual conditions at #4?
Report Comment
Max1 has posted a YT clip on the webcam discussion thread with much more detail than the NYT still photo. It's well worth viewing.
http://enenews.com/forum-fukushima-webcam-discussion-thread-dec-14-2011-present/comment-page-74#comment-254654
Report Comment
I watched the ustream of the tour. At long times while the bus was traveling, the camera was pointed down at the camera man's knees. It was obvious censorship so we could not see something.
Report Comment
anne,
I noticed that too.
Magicians use similar tricks…
… Look at what my right hand is doing, ladies and gents.
Report Comment
We live in Tokyo and we've been following this site. We are musicians and we made a song to help save the Fukushima children. Our song is not for sale yet, but all proceeds will go to help move families that want to move. The song is a remix of Alicia Keys' Empire State of Mind. Please support these innocent children.
Here is a rough translation of the lyrics:
You want this voice delivered to your soul…
You stand there, but there is no answer to the devastation…
It is a continuation to the waking nightmare, it never ends…
This is real, not something on television or film…
Japan, stretched out hands… bonds connecting…
The love is warm… hoping for another day…
Say a prayer for Japan…Japan….Japan…
From that fateful day…
We came to know that we are connected with love…
Even now, people suffer with loneliness, but…
A future voice will be heard in a faraway place…
Now is what we will be able to do…
Japan, stretched out hands… bonds connecting…
The love is warm… hoping for another day
Say a prayer for Japan…Japan….Japan…
Angels have small hands…
But spread their wings to the world with a smile…
So that the world will listen and help Japan…
Japan, stretched out hands… bonds connecting…
The love is warm… hoping for another day
Stand up….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15mS99tomgk
Nihon311.com
Thank you!
Report Comment
Anti-Nuclear Music/Songs; via A Green Road Blog
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/03/anti-nuclear-music-and-songs-around.html
Report Comment
Rocks!
Report Comment
Nihon song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15mS99tomgk
Report Comment
I think we are being credited with doing good where others have failed. The assurances of TEPCO and the Japanese government NEED to be undermined so people can understand the TRUTH.
Report Comment
I thought this needed to be repeated.
“The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind CONSTANTLY – it must confine itself to a few points and REPEAT them over and OVER.”
― Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels
Qualifications to be a propagandist.
from wiki
"…in 1921, writing his doctoral thesis on 19th century romantic drama; he then went on to work as a JOURNALIST and later a bank clerk and caller on the STOCK EXCHANGE."
What does that tell you?
In the end:
"Goebbels along with his wife Magda killed their six young children and then committed suicide. The couple's bodies were burned in a shell crater, but owing to the lack of petrol the burning was only partly effective." – wiki
[suicide] …and so will those 'other propagandists' in Japan, and elsewhere, when the wall falls. …or maybe sooner.
Assuming history REPEATS itself and I think in many ways it does.
Report Comment
Except in this case, there are 3 melted Death Machines, (NPPs), and an extra deadly planet threatening pool full of fuel being 'looked at' by a bunch of cowardly arrogant fools who hide behind their decades old propaganda program.
Report Comment
thanks for the song nihon
more music to my ears here..
".. amplified over the Web, are helping to undermine assurances by Tepco and the Japanese government …"
well done admin
like the subsidence near daichi, you are undermining the corner stone of corporate excess.. have you no compassion for these poor .. errr … rich corporate types.. they have healthy non radioactive children and can afford the best oncology anyway… but this is no reason to pick on them!!
@ admin
you are bullying these poor corporations…
stop i say, watch some tv… take some alchohol or drugs… the worldwide nuke corp cant take any more strain!!!
HAVE SOME COMPASSION FOR THESE POOR .. ERR … RICH CORPORATE EMPLOYEES!/SARC
actually, it is VERY encouraging news.. wait till they see what we have planned for june!! we will be undermining the undermine!!
see how they like that..
do i hear the sound of squealing pigs in the background???
but theres no farms around here?? ;O
well done enenewsers and exskf and fd and nuclearnews.net etc
happy arc!
Report Comment
This is when you pull the light saber and strike relentlessly at your Dark Foe.
First take a hand, then take a foot and then take one piece at a time, until the Dark Foe is vanquished once and for all.
Use what is left of the ancient force to do your battle and then shut all this unnatural energy and Nuclear Technology Folly down.
Report Comment
It is interesting on how few comments are published to their story. My comments were not published.
Here's what I wrote. NO surprise really that it wasn't published. Probably should have left out the part about GE and mindless consumers.
The polite Japanese will tell you nothing is wrong so as not to worry you. TEPCO will act to protect its shareholders. Government will act to protect its corporations not the individuals.
Fukushima reactors meltdown have been the worst industrial and public health disaster in history and we hear next to nothing about it in the mass media.
GE, the maker of the Mark 1 reactors that melted down, owns most of mass media and seems to not want any negative publicity. They also produce a lot of diagnostic medical equipment to diagnose all the increase in cancers that their poorly designed reactors will create.
The US baseline radiation levels have doubled or more in many areas. We are told by government officials not to worry because the fish, or whatever else, is no more radioactive than baseline radiation.
The message: “Please continue to be a mindless consumer. We need this in order for this mess of an economy to blunder along.”
Report Comment
Well done! +1
Report Comment
On target!
Report Comment
I too find this a very positive step. I thought most folks here wanted to "amplify" that Tepco's assertions of safety at Fuku were uncertain.
I don't find offense in that statement or the article (did everyone read the whole thing?)
So there is some visibility in two major MSM papers now; NYT and WSJ. It's a major start in remediation I hope to avoid a terrible catastrophe.
I said in another note .. progress starts with what the two sides can agree on .. not by constantly derailing each other with their differences.
Otherwise you have nothing but deadlock .. just like the governments and PTB that have been spoken so vehemently against here.
Realistically .. what would you have wanted those papers to say at this point?
90% of enenews readers say the world is over .. therefore it is .. and so they have the privilege of saying I told you so as our bones turn to dust? Isn't that just as extreme as the image of them sucking champagne on their yachts saying we told you so before our bones turn to dust?
There's no workable solution in those two extremes. IMHO.
And speaking of bones into dust .. honor those .. this Memorial Day.
Report Comment
IIB sez: "anybody read it"?
SP: I read it several times… Even the newer revised version after the hot button word removal (so the NYT really thought "amplified" was dodgy?
This part was one to which I have objections: " now that the three nuclear reactors that suffered meltdowns are in a more stable state, "
I think perhaps I was too harsh on Hiroko… my apologies. She did have a co-author. I think it was well-written with a subtle anti-nuke nuance that can be missed the first time. Several clues… earthquake appears in the same sentence as the NRC preferred villain "tsunami". The picture of the suited men with the backdrop of a blackened hulk. The headline itself: "Spent fuel rods drive growing fear…"
The NYT article also uses some verbiage being widely used by the pro nuke forces about how the fuel is "too weak" to be a threat anymore:
"Some experts believe the fuel in the pool is now too weak to generate much radioactivity, but others are still worried." excerpt from MSNBC article "Weakened Fukushima nuclear pool is not unstable, Japan insists"
http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/26/11896155-weakened-fukushima-nuclear-pool-is-not-unstable-japan-insists?lite
I am encouraged by the lack of pro nuke comments following the NYT article. Ten months ago the pro nukes would have been swarming.. now they are so few and lacking their former bluster.
Report Comment
Hi SP .. just to clarify, I asked if everyone had read the whole articel and not just the highlighted portions her, but get your point.
Your 1st objection: reactors now in more stable state. Well c'mon .. they are. It's fair. They haven't blown up for 14 months now. (Sarcasm intended)
Your second concern: the cooling of the rods after 14 months. I posted a quote from Arnie (made in May 2012) a couple weeks ago where he stated that he didn't think the rods were vulnerable to spontaneous volatility (outside of the pool collapse) now no matter what.
Peace on ..
I will dig it up if you want. But I would like to hear a consensus as well from impartial unbaised group personally. Respected from pronuke and antinuke if possible. (Guess I'm a dreamer on that one.)
Report Comment
You say Arnie said Unit 4 rods wouldn't burn?
A week ago on enenews:
http://enenews.com/gundersen-pyrophoric-fire-fuel-rods-unit-4-pool-cooled-potential-contamination-entire-northern-hemisphere-video
Arnie Gundersen, Fairewinds Chief Nuclear Engineer: Unit 4 is weakened… I think about a M7.0-M7.5 quake will knock that building to the ground…
The fuel is still hot enough where it can begin to burn… cesium and plutonium and all that…
It would volatilize as the fuel burns, it creates a pyrophoric fire which is a fire that water cannot put out.
Likely resulting in an evacuation of Tokyo at the least, and potentially contamination of the entire northern hemisphere."
Report Comment
Hi again SP. Here is the Armie quote and link (the highlights are mine) .. not talking about the collapse or catastrophic loss of cooling backup but the likelihood of spontaneous criticality in the pool as it is now 14 months later.
http://fairewinds.com/content/fukushima-daiichi-truth-and-future
"Maggie Gundersen: Arnie, I want to follow up with a few more questions. In your discussion of Unit 4, you have talked about its hydrogen explosion. Is there any chance of a prompt criticality or a hydrogen explosion now at Unit 4? Would anything cause it to release more fuel or more radioactivity?
Arnie Gundersen: The fuel in the fuel pool at Unit 4 has now been cooled for about a year after the accident and it had been removed a couple of months before that. So the fuel is becoming cooler. It still needs to be water-cooled for another 2 years, but it is much cooler than it was at the beginning of the accident. **So the chances of hydrogen generation are much, much lower now than when the accident occurred. So I do not believe that we are going to see an explosion in the pool now, no matter what happens.**
My biggest concern is that if the pool loses water, then it is an entirely different story. So if there is a large seismic event …"
Report Comment
Unfortunately,
Nuclear Power After Fukushima. The New York Times Published: May 25, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/26/opinion/nuclear-power-after-fukushima.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120526
[excerpt] "…After being hit by an unusually powerful earthquake and the tsunami it generated, Fukushima lost its connection to the off-site electrical grid and its own backup generators, making it impossible to cool the reactors to prevent a meltdown and release of radiation.
Although an equally powerful earthquake and tsunami were deemed unlikely in this country,"
[end excerpt]
Report Comment
The phrase "amplified over the Web" has now been deleted from the article!
Report Comment
… although it still remains in other newspapers' re-publishing of the NYT article, for example here:
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/world/concerns-grow-about-spent-fuel-rods-at-damaged-nuclear-plant-in-japan-637678/
Report Comment
he phrase "amplified over the Web" has now been deleted from the article!
some "guiding" advise from big PR maybe!
good catch nemenis
Report Comment
Yes thank you nemenis .. all reference to "the web" has been deleted entirely from the article .. not just the "amplified" phrase which seemed to draw so much offense ..
Interesting .. very interesting. So to those comments above who groused so much .. guess this is a victory to many here .. invisibility.
I still consider this a positive step by MSM and happy to have a broader readership aware of fragility of Fuku.
Peace.
Report Comment
hi irradiatedinbako
so the reference to the WHO 2012 CHILDRENS REPORT doesnt have the earlier reference to the childrens results not being ready for another few weeks… it mow states that the childrens report isnt ready! who is changing the documents so quickly?? are they getting their info from enenews? i know i would
do you think that someone is dropping these terms in on purpose perhaps?
the plot thickens
and a good catch too iib
+100
Report Comment
Hi Arclight.
I think there are pressures on news and I think anyone born close to WW2 has an inherent revulsion to nukes. You either have to justify it as a necesseary peacemaking force .. or writhe against it as a very bad decision by a brilliant few.
It wasn't trialed for clean green energy .. it's primary purpose was war making and death.
Until that utopian ideal to end nukes for war we will have nukes for energy.
However .. I do believe that the costs for nuke energy are becoming impratical ..
There is hope ..
But the US is devoted to its DU Silver Bullet war tech which slips just below the nuclear war standard and must be addressed. I believe that is a big part of the secret shroud for much argument for nuke energy.
It's complicated. One step at a time.
Peace and hope.
Report Comment
Removed = Censored!!! ;(
Report Comment
Fascinating, neminis. Good eye!
Report Comment
The words are still there in paragraph 8, they changed the headline and did a little shuffling of the paragraphs but amplified by the web is still in there.
Report Comment
Ahh still trying to wake up, the times took the words out but the gazette still has them. sorry.
Report Comment
This from a Nuke Pro from Czech, looking at history.
http://motls.blogspot.com/2012/05/assassination-of-heydrich-70-years-ago.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LuboMotlsReferenceFrame+%28Lubos+Motl%27s+reference+frame%29
There are many lessons to be learned from those events. One of them is that if you're doing something unjustifiable with a whole nation and some very measured and decent people suggest that you may deserve the ultimate punishment for your deeds, they may be right and they may be able to turn this opinion into a reality. You shouldn't trust complacent words by the asslickers who surround you. Heydrich's fate shouldn't be forgotten by various global warming alarmists and similar people.
Report Comment
"undermine"
what an unfortunate use of words… they just undermined themselves! thank you NYT!
un·der·mine/ˌəndərˈmīn/
Verb:
Erode the base or foundation of (a rock formation).
Dig or excavate beneath (a building or fortification) so as to make it collapse.
Report Comment
it was a bit callous of them to use that word snowy.. what do you expect from psychopaths,, they cant really help themselves…
"I Am Fishead" Are Corporate Leaders Egotistical Psychopaths ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MWpxH-RlFQ
hate censorship me!
"web amplified fears" damn right!!
try googling and downloading
38175279
have a pleasant evening anyone who might have missed it.. while stocks last!
peace
Report Comment
"The Corporation" confirms the pathology of capitalism
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DSnE8D3tgZ5c&v=SnE8D3tgZ5c&gl=US
If you are on a pc click the desktop option
Report Comment
NYT has an op-ed nuke piece also: "When it comes to nuclear power, the cost of any mistake can be truly unthinkable."
The piece is generally business as usual, but that little quote from it might get some attention.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/26/opinion/nuclear-power-after-fukushima.html?src=recg
In Canada a major piece came out last weekend, a holiday weekend. In the US this piece has also come out on a holiday weekend. Could be coincidence, but either way there will be very limited readership.
Report Comment
"When it comes to nuclear power, the cost of any mistake can be truly unthinkable."
and when it comes to nuclear power, the cost when it goes right is bad as well
google thee number above! ;( shh!
Report Comment
The comments on the Times op-ed piece are heavily pro-nuke (and are closed).
Report Comment
Respectfully Aigeezer .. the comments were not closed at the time of your comment. Have checked 3 times today and there are newly added submissions and last I checked a few minutes ago top 9 were concerned to antinuke.
Peace.
Report Comment
Hi iib – I'm just seeing your post now. Are we talking about the same article? I'm still seeing this, including a snippet from the first comment which I interpret as pro-nuke:
"99 Comments
Readers shared their thoughts on this article…
Comments Closed
Kenneth Bergman
Ashland, OR
NYT Pick
The nation needs nuclear power as at least a bridge to a future power industry that is fully based on renewable energy sources. On the other hand, Fukushima, and before that Chernobyl and Three-Mile Island have told us that nuclear power plants carry a high risk of meltdown unless really stringent safeguards are built into the systems. That seems to be possible: France gets most of its power from nuclear plants, and so far they appear to have been perfectly safe (of course France hasn't suffered from a mega-earthquake either)…."
This is from my link posted above:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/26/opinion/nuclear-power-after-fukushima.html?src=recg
Report Comment
Check these people out, tried to oppose but locked out.
cslagenhopBilloxi, "The bottom line is this: Nuclear power is the cleanest, most carbon neutral way of generating power there is. The fact that you have nuclear waste is only a lack of reprocessing aptitude of these countries. If you have a program like France, you have very little long term waste. As long as people believe in this whole idea that carbon dioxide is bad for you, we need an alternative energy source. The lessons from Fukishima are: Even in the worst-case scenario, the problems are much less than the trumped up hype. In the end, very few people will die from this horrible accident. Nukes are safe and effective and are widely underused. Learn from the experience. Build redundant cooling systems that will survive earthquake. Build self-scramming reactors with big supplies of boron that are gravity fed into the reactor to quench the reaction immediately on coolant failure. Build plants away from tsunami areas. Hey- how much more would it have cost to build the plant on 30 feet more of dirt? Not much in retrospect."
This is what we are dealing with, dummys with a keyboard. Sure makes me mad.
Report Comment
Funny, that the New York Times is complaining that "we" are doing too good a job of reporting what they do not!
Kudos to everyone here for your time and concern!
Good Luck Japan and US!
Report Comment