Sunday, March 6, 2016

On Fukushima's Anniversary


In the run up to the 5th anniversary of Fukushima, I read Japan's former-Prime Minister Kan said that the loss of Tokyo was narrowly averted:
Andrew Gilligan, Fukushima: Tokyo was on the brink of nuclear catastrophe, admits former prime minister. The Telegraph, March 4, 2016, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/12184114/Fukushima-Tokyo-was-on-the-brink-of-nuclear-catastrophe-admits-former-prime-minister.html#

I just wonder what he possibly could have meant by "narrowly averted" given the city has hot spots measuring at levels that qualify as radioactive waste and Tokyo's aquifer is becoming slowly contaminated:
Mochizuki , January 27, 2016 NRA’s data shows contamination level in Tokyo tap water higher than Fukushima by 24 percent. Fukushima Diary, http://fukushima-diary.com/2016/01/nras-data-shows-contamination-level-in-tokyo-tap-water-higher-than-fukushima-by-24-percent/

Al Jazeera reported in October 2012 that nuclear engineer and college lecturer Masashi Goto was concerned that radioactive water in Daiichi’s reactor basements was contaminating the underground water system, potentially traveling long distances to threaten public water supplies.
Japan Struggling to Store Radioactive Water’ (25 October 2012), Al Jazeerahttp://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2012/10/2012102510561941251.html, 
see also M. Yamaguchi (25 October 2012) ‘AP Interview: Japan Nuke Plant Water Worries Rise’, Yahoo, http://news.yahoo.com/ap-interview-japan-nuke-plant-water-worries-rise-064339732.html, date accessed 26 October 2012. 


I've chronicled evidence of worsening water contamination across time at the plant and in ground water samples in my published work.

What could be worse that ubiquitous, worsening contamination?

I suppose the worse-case scenario was cascading plant failures, starting with Fuukshima I at Daiichi and spreading to Fukushima II at Daini and then resulting in the loss of control at Tokai.

Cascading nuclear plant failures are the worst case scenario outside of all inclusive nuclear war. Either scenario threatens humanity with rapid extinction.

So, Tokyo was spared cascading failures and so were the world's inhabitants. Thank goodness for those who gave their lives to prevent that scenario. Japan will never properly acknowledge their personal contributions because the plant manager's testimony has not been released, although he passed away from cancer, a cancer TEPCO reported as unrelated to his work at Daiichi.

But Tokyo was not spared the fallout from three, explosively ruptured reactors and at least one spent fuel pool fire.

Tokyo's aquifer system was not spared melted fuel in contact with water from a tributary of an extensive underground aquifer system that links to the one that sources Tokyo.

Tokyo was not spared the ongoing steam emissions and other strange phenomena that are undoubtedly radioactive that have occurred with alarming frequency across the last five years.

Fukushima Daiichi is like a sleeping demon that belches and farts radioactive particles and gasses into the local ecology. The winds and currents circulate those gasses and particles far and wide, (further) infusing the entire planet's ecology with genotoxins.

The demon is bad enough when he sleeps. Earthquakes and other inexplicable phenomena sometimes interrupt his slumber, resulting in fiery red and purple breath, which rises most predictable from the demon's unit 1 and unit 3 orifices.

The demon has been restless over the last week and today's emissions were red at times.

Let us hope he sleeps through his anniversary because his full rage still threatens with unknowable scenarios.




2 comments:

  1. Tokyo was not spared

    ReplyDelete
  2. Vivid characterizations. Scary for those in Japan and perhaps prophetic for the rest of us.

    ReplyDelete

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