Monday, June 3, 2013

GLOBAL CRISIS: HUMANITY AT RISK


Recently a friend posted this summary of the situation at Fukushima at Enenews in response to the recent Japan Time article, which is cited below, wherein Tepco acknowledges that the radioactive fire would burst out without continuous cooling. Here is the news article that prompted the comment:
Yoshida, R. (21 May 2013) Fukushima No. 1 can’t keep its head above tainted water', The Japan Times, http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/05/21/reference/fukushima-no-1-cant-keep-its-head-above-tainted-water/#.UZ2eRJwQNX9

Tepco must perpetually pour water over the melted cores of reactors 1, 2, and 3 via makeshift systems to prevent the fuel from melting and burning again.

But the cores’ containment vessels were damaged by the meltdowns, allowing the highly radioactive coolant water to leak and flow into the basements.

Compounding the problem is some 400 tons of groundwater that is also entering the basements of the tsunami- and explosion-damaged buildings, mixing with the leaking coolant water.

Tepco has been operating a water-recycling system to drain the basements that is supposed to extract cesium before recirculating the water back to the reactors. But the added inflow of the groundwater is exacerbating the threat...

...Tepco is proposing some of the water be dumped into the sea after processing it to remove most, but not all, radioactive isotopes. Local fishermen strongly oppose the plan as it will taint the image of their produce.Previous discharges into the Pacific have effectively contaminated the sea.[end]
Majia here: I believe we were already subject to radioactive fires. Please see the "before" (may 2011) and "after" images of building #4 I posted on my blog http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/unit-4-is-there-intact-fuel-left.html

It is terrifying to think it could occur again. But it seems inevitable now.

Now here is my friend's comment:
SickPuter: That pretty well fleshes out the official nuclear disaster response plan. Or to put it in simple words we grew so familiar with the past 26 months: Feed and Bleed. 
It does confirm what we had suspected in that the residual splatter of uranium/plutonium fuel blobs on the buildings inner parts are still capable of burning in the open air unless they get an hourly bath. 

So drench them forever unless they want a repeat of the 11 days of Chernobyl. Of course they omit to tell us that probably half the fuel splatter already burned away into open air fallout in those hazy days of March – September 2011 and again in December 2011 through February 2012.

Count up all the days the cameras went "offline" and it was probably 5 times more out of control burning than Chernobyl. And ten times as much fuel burned.

The statement also contradicts the earlier Tepco estimates of how long it would take to be decommission the inner parts. Now we know…never. Not in our lifetimes, not in 20 human lifetimes.
Majia here: I agree with this assessment and I believe humanity is at risk from the Fukushima nuclear crisis. It is an environmental catastrophe that caps over a hundred years of disasters.

The Daiichi plant must be continuously doused with water to prevent fires from breaking out in the melted corium. Radioactive fires are not easily put out.

400 tons of water daily are injected at the Daiichi site and some of the resulting highly contaminated water is vaporized, entering the atmosphere and circulating in weather systems. See the emissions I've documented here and here. Look also at what appears to be a 'gaseous flame' from unit 3 here

Contaminated water is entering the ocean in substantial volumes. Radiation levels in fish are not dropping. See this October 2012 New Scientists article here 

Rivers and streams in Japan have been contaminated. Probably elsewhere as well. Fresh water aquifers in Japan may also have been contaminated.

The hundreds of tons of nuclear inventory at the site are going to enter the atmosphere and the ocean and there appears to be no way to stop it.
 
The requirements for capturing, storing, and de-contaminated radioactive water surpass the imagination. (See my previous discussion of water storage problems at the plant below).

Some people are trying to raise the alarm about the scope and risks of the ongoing Fukushima disaster. Among them is the distinguished intellectual and diplomat, Akio Matsumura, who published this recent letter at his blog:
Akio Matsumura (30 April 2013) ‘Take Action at Fukushima: An Open Letter to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’, Akio Matsumura: Finding the Missing Link, http://akiomatsumura.com/2013/04/take-action-at-fukushima-an-open-letter-to-secretary-general-ban-ki-moon.html, date accessed 19 May 2013....

But the crisis is not over. Today, Martin Fackler reported in the New York Times that radioactively polluted water is leaking out of the plants and that the site is in a new state of emergency....

...The radioactive fuel must be continuously cooled in order to stay safe; the improvised electric system that maintains this cooling has failed several times, once for more than 24 hours, both on its own and because of hungry rats. The mechanism that stands between safety and a fire at the Fukushima Daiichi plant is, to say the least, precarious....

...We are not only waiting for a bigger disaster. One is already unfolding before us. The health consequences of the released radiation are large: despite what major news outlets are reporting, we will see a significant jump in thyroid and other cancers in Japan in four to five years. Congenital malformations will likely begin to appear.... [end]
Read the entire letter at his blog. He is not alone. Anand Grover, UN rapporteur for human rights, just issues his second statement about the risks to health for people in Fukushima:

AP (26 May 2013) ‘U.N. expert urges help for Japan's nuclear victims’, The Asahi Shimbun, http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201305260047

[Excerpted] A United Nations expert who investigated the aftermath of Japan's 2011 nuclear power plant disaster says the government and the operator of the facility should do more to help those affected by the catastrophe.

A report by special rapporteur Anand Grover, posted on the U.N. Human Rights Council's website, says the government's takeover of Tokyo Electric Power Co. allowed the utility to evade full responsibility for the nuclear disaster, the worst since Chernobyl. [end]

Majia here: Another group urging action is the Fukushima Collective Evacuation site, available here.They recently published this call for action: 
今日本政府は原子力発電所の汚染水を
明日にでも海に流そうとしています・・・・ 斉藤さんより

Today, radioactive waters are about to be flushed into the ocean from the Japanese nuclear power plant of Fukushima...

これは世界に対するテロ行為です。

This is a crime against the world.

広島長崎に原爆が落とされた
日本

Even though atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,

今度はそれを日本政府は
世界にやろうとしています。

The Japanese government is about to expose the rest of the world to nuclear radiations.

私達日本人は地球を地球にある命を
殺したくありません。

We, the Japanese people do not want to kill life on Earth.

でも私達では それを止めることが
できません。

But we cannot stop it alone.

日本政府は日本国民も被曝させ
続けています。

The Japanese government keeps exposing the Japanese people to radiations.

こんな思いをするのは私達日本人だけで十分です。

We do not want anyone else to suffer this.

世界のみなさんには健康で幸せでいてほしいです。

We would like you in the rest of the world to remain healthy and happy.

みなさんから 日本政府の暴挙を止めてほしいです。

We would like you to help us stop the outrageous behaviour of the Japanese government.

今すぐテロ作戦を止めてください。

Please stop these criminal operations.

お願いします。

Please.

どうか助かってください。

Please help us.

お願いします。

Thank you.
Majia here: I think many people are aware of the scale of the disaster. Brave ones have and continue to speak out.

But with the recent disclosures that Hanford is also on the verge of a nuclear catastrophe, humanity had better act quickly:

Expert: “Incipient collapse” of radioactive waste tanks possible at U.S. nuclear site (AUDIO)




1 comment:

  1. saw an article today that makes it seem like the unapologetic discharge into Pacific hasn't begun yet:
    http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2013/06/228399.html

    but I suspect it's been going on for long time already, given TEPCO/Industry's definition of 'damage control' and false apologies to date - and hey, the UN says there's "no immediate danger"
    http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-06-01/developmental-issues/39673768_1_fukushima-daiichi-disaster-nuclear-accident

    to which Mr Yablokov has already responded "When you hear 'no immediate danger' then you should run away as far and as fast as you can." http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/apr/01/fukushima-chernobyl-risks-radiation

    I'd say: the fire no one knows how to put out is already raging and there isn't enough water in the universe to keep it 'contained' for as long as it will burn (could attempt to freeze ground around reactors have more to do with missing corium than groundwater???

    also, wanted to make sure you had this important event on your radar:
    https://www.facebook.com/events/509410325793207/

    will be streamed live tomorrow starting at 8:30am PDT (11:30am EDT) Tuesday June 4, 2013 on http://av4b.com/live/

    keep up the good work, Majia - especially the image monitoring - and the relevant dialogue!

    and ps - meet Masaichi Shiozaki, drummer of hope at the heart of the disaster
    http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=376215925817569&set=a.256733387765824.47382.248656078573555&type=1&theater

    wearing yellow shirt here, 6/2/13 Tokyo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-sRzklZ0_4

    Saikado Hantai!



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