nuclear-news

Japan’s former Prime Ministers fears on Fukushima – a ‘national disaster’

Naoto Kan says he imagined “deserted scenes of Tokyo without a single man” and the need to evacuate tens of millions of people.

“It was truly a spine-chilling thought,” Kan said in an interview with the Tokyo Shimbun daily published Tuesday……

Kan, who resigned last week amid criticism over his administration’s handling of the disaster, said when he heard that cooling systems had failed at the nuclear plant soon after it was damaged by a March 11 tsunami, he understood the gravity of the situation.

“The power was totally lost and there was no cooling capacity. I knew what that meant. So I thought, ‘This is going to be a disaster.'”…..

Authorities have since said that the cores of three of the six reactors melted down — much worse than they said initially — spewing about one-sixth the radiation emitted by the accident at Chernobyl.

After a series of hydrogen explosions, Kan said he heard from then-Trade Minister Banri Kaieda that TEPCO was considering pulling out staff from the nuclear plant.

Without staff to cool the overheated reactors, Kan said he knew the reactors and spent nuclear fuel stored in pools would “rapidly melt down and release massive amounts of radiation.”

He said he summoned then-TEPCO President Masataka Shimizu for an explanation, but he “never told me anything clearly.”

“Withdrawing from the plant was out of the question. If that had happened, Tokyo would have been deserted by now. It was a critical moment for Japan’s survival. It could have been a disaster leaking dozens of times more radiation than Chernobyl,” he said……

Because of the high radiation levels, he said officials feared there would be a shortage of workers at the plant even after their maximum radiation exposure limit was raised to 250 millisieverts from 100 millisieverts. Kan said officials considered raising the limit further, but the discussion abated as the initial critical situation eased.

The Fukushima complex is about 140 miles (225 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo. The greater Tokyo area has more than 30 million people.

Some 100,000 people from around the plant have been evacuated. While the amount of radiation leaking from the plant has dropped significantly, authorities say accumulated radiation in the soil and vegetation may make it difficult for residents to return to their homes for some time, perhaps years.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jaNjkbHuDK6TAMBCkjf8PVDSJrrg?docId=a8f9617cf1df4e4f9f9684fc9170e7b6

September 9, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | - Fukushima 2011