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Uncertain future as radiation leak continues from Fukushima nuclear plant

Fukushima Radiation expert says outcome of nuke crisis hard to predict, warns of further dangers, Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog(Mainichi Japan) September 9,2011 http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20110909p2a00m0na016000c.html  by Hiroaki Koide “.……. At present, I believe that there is a possibility that massive amounts of radioactive materials will be released into the environment again.

At the No. 1 reactor, there’s a chance that melted fuel has burned through the bottom of the pressure vessel, the containment vessel and the floor of the reactor building, and has sunk into the ground. From there, radioactive materials may be seeping into the ocean and groundwater…….

The government and plant operator TEPCO are trumpeting the operation of the circulation cooling system, as if it marks a successful resolution to the disaster. However, radiation continues to leak from the reactors. The longer the circulation cooling system keeps running, the more radioactive waste it will accumulate. It isn’t really leading us in the direction we need to go.

It’s doubtful that there’s even a need to keep pouring water into the No.1 reactor, where nuclear fuel is suspected to have burned through the pressure vessel. Meanwhile, it is necessary to keep cooling the No. 2 and 3 reactors, which are believed to still contain some fuel, but the cooling system itself is unstable. If the fuel were to become overheated again and melt, coming into contact with water and trigger a steam explosion, more radioactive materials will be released……

what is the point of “aiming for cold shutdown” now, when we know that fuel is no longer sound?

In the days ahead, the storage of enormous quantities of radiation-contaminated waste, including tainted mud resulting from the decontamination process, will become a major problem. ….

With Fukushima, however, there is a possibility that nuclear fuel has fallen into the ground, in which case it will take 10 or 20 years to recover it. We are now head to head with a situation that mankind has never faced before. http://nuclearhistory.wordpress.com/2011/09/10/fukushima-radiation-expert-says-outcome-of-nuke-crisis-hard-to-predict-warns-of-further-dangers/

September 10, 2011 - Posted by | - Fukushima 2011

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