nuclear-news

 it is the continuing nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima, just 200 kilometres north of Tokyo, that really threatens Japan’s future.

The ‘myth of safety’ in Japan’s nuclear plants THE NATIONAL POST , Peter Goodspeed: 21 May 11“……….The world’s third-largest economy has suffered nearly US$400-billion in damage and been thrust into recession. Japanese manufacturers have been staggered by power shortages and breaks in their supply chains, and are not expected to return to business as usual before the fall.

According to the World Bank, it will take at least five more years just to clean up the mess left by the natural disasters.

But it is the continuing nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima, just 200 kilometres north of Tokyo, that really threatens Japan’s future.

As emergency workers still struggle to control four of the plant’s six nuclear reactors, the Japanese are only now learning just how serious the crisis has been. Radioactive isotopes have spewed into the air, contaminated the soil and been flushed into the sea, but the threat of even more dangerous exposures remains as nuclear experts try to determine the full extent of the damage.

Radiation levels in the three damaged reactors are so high emergency crews can only spend a few minutes at a time near the buildings. They have been able to enter only two of the damaged structures to restart monitoring equipment.

TEPCO has announced a two-phase plan to resolve the crisis: it hopes to spend three months cooling the damaged reactors and plugging radiation leaks; and another six months putting the reactors into a stable state known as a “cold shutdown.”

If everything goes smoothly, the reactors could reach “cold shutdown” by early next year.

But that timetable depends on how badly damaged the reactors are and how well the company manages to contain thousands of tonnes of contaminated water……..Even after TEPCO achieves a cold shutdown, it may take decades to decontaminate the plant……..This week, TEPCO released documents showing it was dealing with three simultaneous nuclear meltdowns, while reassuring people the fuel rods were safely intact in all the reactors…..

Even now, two months later, only 10% of the plant’s workers have been tested for internal radiation exposure caused by inhaling or ingesting radioactive materials. That’s because most of the testing equipment is inside the contaminated buildings…..

At the end of April, Naoto Kan, the Japanese Prime Minister, lost one of his chief scientific advisors, when Toshiso Kosako, a Tokyo University professor, quit in protest at what he called politically expedient decisions to ignore international nuclear safety standards.

For example, when officials in Fukushima prefecture discovered 75% of the region’s school sites had radiation levels above the existing safety standard of one millisievert a year, they upped the standard to 20 millisieverts a year, the maximum annual exposure allowed German nuclear workers.

“The nuclear crisis has certainly undermined already shaky tolerance in Japan of the close ties among business, bureaucrats and political leaders,” said Peter Ennis of the Brookings Institution……

anri Kaieda, the Economy, Trade & Industry Minister warns.

“If the situation continues, there is a danger of Japanese manufacturers taking their facilities overseas,” he said.

Like most Japanese, he blames the utility companies.

“There was a myth of safety, a belief that Japanese nuclear plants are the safest in the world,” he said. http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/05/21/peter-goodspeed-the-myth-of-safety-in-japans-nuclear-plants/