Typhoon hazard to Japan’s nuclear power

a typhoon like Ma-On could be a huge blow to Japan……. also through the looming threat, again, to the country’s nuclear infrastructure…..What’s more, the shattered Fukushima plant may be so far gone that “insulating the facilities from the typhoon will be impossible,” ….If nothing else, the one-two punch of a tsunami and a typhoon may hasten Japan’s much called-for abandonment of nuclear power,….

Typhoon Tests Japan’s Nuclear Resolve, TIME, by Tara Thean, July 19, 2011 “…The typhoon is moving quickly north- and eastward, with sustained winds and gusts speeding along at 87 and 100 mph respectively. And quite a lot of that predicted rain – over 50mm, or 2 inches – has already hit Shikoku and Honshu islands. It’s still anyone’s guess whether or not the typhoon will lead to another national disaster — the most intense rainfall and strongest convection is still over the open ocean, and convection may be weakening because of warming cloud top temperatures and the movement of dry air

But that doesn’t mean the country shouldn’t be taking precautions: a typhoon like Ma-On could be a huge blow to Japan not just because of the potential destruction that could result, but also through the looming threat, again, to the country’s nuclear infrastructure. It was a tsunami that wiped crippled the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station and a typhoon can produce surges of water that are equally damaging.

For now, it looks like Japan is taking at least some steps to steel itself for the possible foot of rain Ma-On could bring: Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) began installing a cover on Sunday for a building at the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. The cover will be there “momentarily,” according to TEPCO spokesman Hajime Motojuku in The Japan Times, adding that TEPCO has also detached a hose from a barge located near the plant that contains contaminated water, thus preventing rainwater from increasing contamination levels as the typhoon hits.

But is that enough? And what’s protecting the other 50 nuclear reactors around Japan? “They should always be doing more, but the supply of skilled workers is limited,” Yale University political science assistant professor Jun Saito said in an email. What’s more, the shattered Fukushima plant may be so far gone that “insulating the facilities from the typhoon will be impossible,” according to Saito.

If nothing else, the one-two punch of a tsunami and a typhoon may hasten Japan’s much called-for abandonment of nuclear power,….

Difficult though the shift away from nukes may be, there are only so many disasters a country should be forced to withstand. A single Fukushima is a disaster. A second would be inexcusable.
http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/07/19/typhoon-tests-japans-nuclear-resolve/

July 21, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, safety

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