Fukushima Reactor 4: Life On Planet Earth in the Balance

[John F Kennedy III]

Fukushima Reactor 4: Life On Planet Earth in the Balance

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
April 7, 2012


Diplomat Akio Matsumura is warning that the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan may ultimately turn into an event capable of extinguishing all life on Earth.

Matsumura posted a startling entry on his blog following a statement made by Japan’s former ambassador to Switzerland, Mitsuhei Murata, on the situation at Fukushima.

Speaking at a public hearing of the Budgetary Committee of the House of Councilors on March 22, 2012, Murata warned that “if the crippled building of reactor unit 4 – with 1,535 fuel rods in the spent fuel pool 100 feet (30 meters) above the ground – collapses, not only will it cause a shutdown of all six reactors but will also affect the common spent fuel pool containing 6,375 fuel rods, located some 50 meters from reactor 4,” writes Matsumura.


In both cases the radioactive rods are not protected by a containment vessel; dangerously, they are open to the air. This would certainly cause a global catastrophe like we have never before experienced. He stressed that the responsibility of Japan to the rest of the world is immeasurable. Such a catastrophe would affect us all for centuries. Ambassador Murata informed us that the total numbers of the spent fuel rods at the Fukushima Daiichi site excluding the rods in the pressure vessel is 11,421.

Matsumura then asked Robert Alvarez, former Senior Policy Adviser to the Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary for National Security and the Environment at the U.S. Department of Energy, about the the impact of such an additional catastrophe at Fukushima.

Containing radiation at the crippled facility will be not small feat, Alvarez explained. “Spent reactor fuel cannot be simply lifted into the air by a crane as if it were routine cargo. In order to prevent severe radiation exposures, fires and possible explosions, it must be transferred at all times in water and heavily shielded structures into dry casks,” Alvarez told Matsumura.

He then said the 11,138 spent fuel assemblies stored at the Fukushima plant contain “134 million curies is Cesium-137 — roughly 85 times the amount of Cs-137 released at the Chernobyl accident as estimated by the U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection.”

“It is important for the public to understand that reactors that have been operating for decades, such as those at the Fukushima-Dai-Ichi site have generated some of the largest concentrations of radioactivity on the planet,” he concluded.

Matsumura admits this is an astounding number and one difficult to comprehend. He wrote that 85 times more Cesium-137 than released at Chernobyl “would destroy the world environment and our civilization. This is not rocket science, nor does it connect to the pugilistic debate over nuclear power plants. This is an issue of human survival.”

Akio Matsumura sent a letter United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “It is no exaggeration to say that the fate of Japan and the whole world depends on NO.4 reactor. This is confirmed by most reliable experts like Dr. Arnie Gundersen or Dr. Fumiaki Koide,” he wrote to Ki-Moon. “The world has been made so fragile and vulnerable. The role of the United Nations is increasingly vital. I wish you the best of luck in your noble mission.”

No word yet if this situation even registers on the United Nations’ radar screen.


original article here:
http://www.infowars.com/fukushima-reactor-4-life-on-planet-earth-in-the-balance/

[Bruno]

"safe, clean energy"

[Anti Federalist]

"safe, clean energy"

Some old coal smog doesn't look so bad now, does it?

[Anti Federalist]

No word yet if this situation even registers on the United Nations’ radar screen.

And if it did?

Cure worse than the disease?

Or maybe yet another globalist elite, using a crisis to press the agenda of more internationalism and UN control.

[John F Kennedy III]

And if it did?

Cure worse than the disease?

Or maybe yet another globalist elite, using a crisis to press the agenda of more internationalism and UN control.

That's exactly what would (and probably will) happen.

[smartguy911]

In order to prevent severe radiation exposures, fires and possible explosions, it must be transferred at all times in water and heavily shielded structures into dry casks,” Alvarez told Matsumura.

so why not countries around the world get together and solve the problem at hand.

[Brian4Liberty]

Containing radiation at the crippled facility will be not small feat, Alvarez explained. “Spent reactor fuel cannot be simply lifted into the air by a crane as if it were routine cargo. In order to prevent severe radiation exposures, fires and possible explosions, it must be transferred at all times in water and heavily shielded structures into dry casks,” Alvarez told Matsumura.

You would think they would have been working on moving these into dry storage for a long time now. As a matter of fact, this should be happening at all nuclear reactors with poorly stored rods.

[Xhin]

That's NOT good.

[TheState]

This article doesn't make sense. It states that the spent fuel pools contain fuel rods with 85 times the amount of Cesium that was released from Chernobyl. It misses an important point though. Chernobyl was so bad b/c a steam explosion broke apart fuel rods and threw them into the air. That's nothing like what would happen if the spent fuel pools lost cooling. If they lost cooling, the fuel would heat up and eventually catch on fire, BUT there would be no mechanism to cause dispersion. Unless it's left to burn for weeks, any leakage would be localized. That's one big difference.

If the pools did collapse and the fuel rods were exposed to open air, there would be some radiation immediately, but unless you were standing next to them, it wouldn't be a worry. Also, hopefully by this point, a year after the accident, they have back-up cooling ready in case a pool did collapse. Spent fuel pools don't require nearly as much cooling as an operating reactor needs.

Lastly, the expert Robert Alvarez is definitely no fan of nuclear energy.

[Kylie]

And here are there reports:


Nuclear Event in Japan on Wednesday, 28 March, 2012 at 05:45 (05:45 AM) UTC.

Description
The water level in the containment vessel of the No. 2 reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is only about 60 centimeters deep, far shallower than previously assumed levels of about four meters, according to Tokyo Electric Power Co. The lower-than-expected water level was discovered for the first time when the power utility used an industrial endoscope to check the crippled reactor's interior on Monday, TEPCO said. According to some experts, it is possible that nuclear fuel that melted through the reactor's pressure vessel and accumulated on the bottom of the containment vessel in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami may not be completely covered in the water. TEPCO said the water temperature in the vessel remained relatively low within a range of 48.5 C to 50 C. The discovery of the unexpectedly shallow water level will not affect TEPCO's judgment that the reactor is in a state of "cold shutdown."






Wednesday, 28 March, 2012 at 08:58 UTC
Description
One of Japan's crippled nuclear reactors still has fatally high radiation levels and hardly any water to cool it, according to an internal examination Tuesday that renews doubts about the plant's stability. A tool equipped with a tiny video camera, a thermometer, a dosimeter and a water gauge was used to assess damage inside the No. 2 reactor's containment chamber for the second time since the tsunami swept into the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant a year ago. The data collected showed the damage from the disaster was so severe, the plant operator will have to develop special equipment and technology to tolerate the harsh environment and decommission the plant, a process expected to last decades. The other two reactors that had meltdowns could be in even worse shape. The No. 2 reactor is the only one officials have been able to closely examine so far. Tuesday's examination with an industrial endoscope detected radiation levels up to 10 times the fatal dose inside the chamber. Plant officials previously said more than half of the melted fuel has breached the core and dropped to the floor of the primary containment vessel, some of it splashing against the wall or the floor.

Particles from melted fuel have probably sent radiation levels up to a dangerously high 70 sieverts per hour inside the container, said Junichi Matsumoto, spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co. The figure far exceeds the highest level previously detected, 10 sieverts per hour, which was detected around an exhaust duct shared by No. 1 and 2 units last year. "It's extremely high," he said, adding that an endoscope would last only 14 hours in those conditions. "We have to develop equipment that can tolerate high radiation" when locating and removing melted fuel during the decommissioning. The probe also found that the containment vessel -- a beaker-shaped container enclosing the core -- had cooling water up to only 60 centimeters (2 feet) from the bottom, far below the 10 meters (yards) estimated when the government declared the plant stable in December. The plant is continuing to pump water into the reactor. Video footage taken by the probe showed the water inside was clear but contained dark yellow sediments, believed to be fragments of rust, paint that had been peeled off or dust.

A probe done in January failed to find the water surface and provided only images showing steam, unidentified parts and rusty metal surfaces scarred by exposure to radiation, heat and humidity. Finding the water level was important to help locate damaged areas where radioactive water is escaping. Matsumoto said that the actual water level inside the chamber was way off the estimate, which had used data that turned out to be unreliable. But the results don't affect the plant's "cold shutdown status" because the water temperature was about 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit), indicating the melted fuel is cooled. Three Dai-ichi reactors had meltdowns, but the No. 2 reactor is the only one that has been examined because radiation levels inside the reactor building are relatively low and its container is designed with a convenient slot to send in the endoscope. The exact conditions of the other two reactors, where hydrogen explosions damaged their buildings, are still unknown. Simulations have indicated that more fuel inside No. 1 has breached the core than the other two, but radiation at No. 3 remains the highest.

The high radiation levels inside the No. 2 reactor's chamber mean it's inaccessible to the workers, but parts of the reactor building are accessible for a few minutes at a time -- with the workers wearing full protection. Last year's massive earthquake and a tsunami set off the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, sending three reactor cores to melt and causing massive radiation leaks. The government said in December that the reactors are safely cooled and the plant has stabilized, while experts have questioned its vulnerability. During a recent visit by a group of journalists including The Associated Press, the head of the plant said it remains vulnerable to strong aftershocks and tsunami, and that containing contaminated water and radiation is a challenge. Radioactive water had leaked into the ocean several times already. Workers found a fresh leak of 120 tons from a water treatment unit this week from one of its hoses, with estimated 80 liters (20 gallons) escaping into the ocean, Matsumoto said. Officials are still investigating its impact. Fukushima's accident has instilled public distrust and concerns about nuclear safety, making it difficult for the government to start up reactors even after regular safety checks. All but one of Japan's 54 reactors are now offline, with the last one scheduled to stop in early May.




The amount of water contaminated with radioactive strontium that leaked into the sea from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant Thursday totaled around 150 milliliters, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Friday. The utility had said Thursday that about 12 tons of highly contaminated water leaked from a water treatment pipe at the plant and that a large portion of it probably flowed into the Pacific Ocean. But an examination of seawater near the drainage of the plant showed that the concentrations of radioactive materials such as strontium were below measurable limits. Tokyo Electric suspects that most of the leaked water was absorbed in soil, with an official saying that the environmental impact of the leakage was almost nil. A similar leak also occurred on March 26 at the plant in Fukushima Prefecture in northeastern Japan. The utility plans to bolt the joint areas of pipes to prevent a recurrence. Meanwhile, the Fukushima prefectural government said the levels of strontium concentration surpassed the average levels measured before the nuclear crisis in 36 locations within the prefecture, including the towns of Okuma and Futaba which host the plant. But the levels of strontium, which tends to accumulate in bones and is believed to be a cause of bone cancer and leukemia, was not high enough to have significant effects on the human body, the local government said. The findings are based on a survey conducted between July and October last year in response to the nuclear crisis, triggered by the powerful earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. The survey involved checking soil at 55 locations in the prefecture.



Nothing to see here. Move along, mundane.


I think this is on everyones radar that could actually do something to prep themselves.

The rest of us are screwed, though.

[Zippyjuan]

"may trigger an event capable of extinguishing all life on Earth" is incredilby extreme but then again, it is Alex Jones- everything is a possible end of the world for him. Even if the entire reactor site exploded and all of the radiation it contained was spewed into the atmosphere and the sea it would not end all life on Earth. The above ground nuclear tests from the 1950's released far more radiation than what the reactor would contain and life on earth was not wiped out.

From the article in the post above:

The amount of water contaminated with radioactive strontium that leaked into the sea from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant Thursday totaled around 150 milliliters, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Friday. The utility had said Thursday that about 12 tons of highly contaminated water leaked from a water treatment pipe at the plant and that a large portion of it probably flowed into the Pacific Ocean. But an examination of seawater near the drainage of the plant showed that the concentrations of radioactive materials such as strontium were below measurable limits. Tokyo Electric suspects that most of the leaked water was absorbed in soil, with an official saying that the environmental impact of the leakage was almost nil.

[Anti Federalist]

"may trigger an event capable of extinguishing all life on Earth" is incredilby extreme but then again, it is Alex Jones- everything is a possible end of the world for him. Even if the entire reactor site exploded and all of the radiation it contained was spewed into the atmosphere and the sea it would not end all life on Earth. The above ground nuclear tests from the 1950's released far more radiation than what the reactor would contain and life on earth was not wiped out.

Accuracy Zip, it is not Jones saying that but rather Akio Matsumura.

[John F Kennedy III]

Accuracy Zip, it is not Jones saying that but rather Akio Matsumura.

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/144/037/haters_gonna_hate_by_genshihebi-d36bgfk.gif

[Lucille]

Will someone please explain to me why these weren't entombed last year?

[John F Kennedy III]

Will someone please explain to me why these f'ers weren't entombed last year?

Soft kill.

[Zippyjuan]

Accuracy Zip, it is not Jones saying that but rather Akio Matsumura.

The article makes it sound like he did, but he didn't. Here is the blog referenced- you can see for yourself. Infowars is the one making that claim that it would end all life on earth. http://akiomatsumura.com/2012/04/682.html

He does say it would be a catastophe but does not say life on earth would end.

Before the Committee, Ambassador Murata strongly stated that if the crippled building of reactor unit 4—with 1,535 fuel rods in the spent fuel pool 100 feet (30 meters) above the ground—collapses, not only will it cause a shutdown of all six reactors but will also affect the common spent fuel pool containing 6,375 fuel rods, located some 50 meters from reactor 4. In both cases the radioactive rods are not protected by a containment vessel; dangerously, they are open to the air. This would certainly cause a global catastrophe like we have never before experienced. He stressed that the responsibility of Japan to the rest of the world is immeasurable. Such a catastrophe would affect us all for centuries.

You can also watch the video interview at Infowars. There he says radiation would be a problem for at least 50 years.

[Anti Federalist]

The article makes it sound like he did, but he didn't. Here is the blog referenced- you can see for yourself. Infowars is the one making that claim that it would end all life on earth. http://akiomatsumura.com/2012/04/682.html

He does say it would be a catastophe but does not say life on earth would end.


You can also watch the video interview at Infowars. There he says radiation would be a problem for at least 50 years.


Matsumura admits this is an astounding number and one difficult to comprehend. He wrote that 85 times more Cesium-137 than released at Chernobyl “would destroy the world environment and our civilization. This is not rocket science, nor does it connect to the pugilistic debate over nuclear power plants. This is an issue of human survival.”

Sounds like EOTWAWKI to me.

/shrugs/

[KingNothing]

Soft kill.

You realize that there is nothing "soft" or slow about the kill in the absurd, and inaccurate, article you posted.... right?

It's just more illogical fear-mongering based on half-truths and exaggeration to bait worrisome, naive, and trusting individuals to click links and buy products.