Weakened Fukushima Nuclear Pool Is Not Unstable, Japan Insists

MSNBC ^ | May 26, 2012 | MSNBC.com staff and news services

[SatinDoll]

Amid concerns of a new disaster should a quake destroy the pool cooling off radioactive nuclear fuel rods at Fukushima's Reactor No. 4, Japan on Saturday arranged a tour for journalists and declared the situation manageable -- but also very long term.

"I don't think the situation is unstable," said Goshi Hosono, Japan's environment minister and the man in charge of the cleanup. He was speaking to reporters after his first tour of the twisted and partly destroyed building that houses the reactor.

Hosono said he expected workers to begin removing fuel from the reactor's storage pool next year.

Work began last month to raise what amounts to a giant tent over the building to keep radioactive dust from scattering during the transport of the fuel rods, which now are under just a tarp at the top of the building.

[snip]

[SatinDoll]

There is controversy by some over whether Japan is lying to the public and the world at large over the status of the Fukushima nuclear site.

This article is in contrast to those who insist the situation at Fukushima is a volatile and continuing threat to the future of humankind on this planet.

Note that Goshi Hosono, Japan's Environment Minister, stated that he expects the fuel would be removed from the storage pool next year. It is standard practice to remove fuel from storage pools and store them in the open behind secure fencing. This was done at the Trojan Nuclear Plant back in the 1990s after the facility was decommisioned. It is not extraordinary nor dangerous for the public.

I'm certain this article will not answer everyone's questions, but I post it to provide balance to questionable statements recently posted here on Free Republic.

[Ronin]

According to Google Maps, I am less than 250 km away from this place, so naturally I am watching the news very carefully. And, please don’t tell me I have to evacuate. My mother-in-law won’t leave her home, I won’t leave my wife, so it’s not an option. I am gently pushing my daughter out of the country, but she’s pretty stubborn too — she’s also an adult.

I think that the truth of the matter is that things are a bit more serious than the government is willing to admit, but nowhere near as dangerous as the alarmists are saying it is.

The biggest reason I feel that way is because if it were more serious, other world governments would be putting much more intense pressure on the Japanese government to let them help deal with it.

It’s a thin reed, but I have to cling to it or just freak out and go totally crazy.

[353FMG]

“I don’t think the situation is unstable,” said Goshi Hosono....”

.
I don’t think...?

[SatinDoll]

I never tell anyone what to do. If anything, I just say what I would do in your situation.

You’re an adult and it is your perogative to make judgements that affect your life, and no one else. It sure sounds like you’ve thought about Fukushima and are paying attention. That’s good. If it looks like the situation is going to Hell, no one would fault you for picking up and leaving. Good luck to you and your family.

Yesterday this was posted:
U.S. Army General: The Whole Northern Hemisphere is at Risk of Becoming Largely Uninhabitable
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2888207/posts

It is kind of fantastic with statements that were flat-out wrong. That is why I posted this article with the Japanese government as a source, just to add some balance in discussions.

[SatinDoll]

Remember, his statements are being translated from Japanese. What he may have said was something shaded differently.

[driftdiver]

The doom and gloom stories always seem to come from people with a long history of anti-nuke activism.

[justa-hairyape]

So now MSNBC is cited as a true news source on Freerepublic ?

The north wall of reactor #4 building has collapsed within the last week. Funny how they do not mention that. Funny how you only see the inside of the collapsed north wall in their video tour. If you want to see what the collapsed north wall looks like right now from the exterior, after about 1 week of slowly collapsing. It is in the video below. Starting at 1:13. Right wall of the building.

Reactor Wall North Wall Collapsing Video

Also, why have they parked a crane on top of the reactor in # 4 ? At least that is where it appears to be located. Is it to protect the reactor from potentially falling roof frames or falling concrete pillars ?

[rawhide]

The Japanese government and TEPCO had lied about this from the very beginning, so why should anyone believe what they say today?

[SatinDoll]

You believe the Japanese government has lied from the beginning?

Did it ever occurr to you that, just perhaps, the Japanese government was dealing with the aftermath of a catastrophic earthquake and a 46’ high tsunami and had ONE HELL OF LOT TO DEAL WITH?

Following is the kind of crap that is circulating out in the blogosphere:

“When the highly radioactive Spent Fuel Rods are exposed to air, there will be massive explosions releasing many times the amount or radiation released thus far.’

It is industry practice to store spent fuel in the open air; how many massive explosions in the U.S.A. have we seen in the past fifty years, huh?

“Bizarrely, they are stored three stories above ground in open concrete storage pools. Whether through evaporation of the water in the pools, or due to the inevitable further collapse of the structure, there is a severe risk.”

If the spent fuel pool collapses, they clean up. Period.

“United States public health authorities agree that tens of thousands of North Americans have already died from the Fukushima calamity.”

The above fiction has been circulating for the past six weeks or so. I live in southwest Washington State. There have been NO DEATHS DUE TO RADIATION IN THIS REAGION. IT IS A LIE!

“When the final cataclysm occurs, sooner rather than later, the whole Northern Hemisphere is at risk of becoming largely uninhabitable.”

[sigh] This fear mongering, it is just so much bull shit. Can’t you see this is an off shoot of the same nonsense concerning global warming? It originates from the same sources - communists!

[rawhide]

You believe the Japanese government has lied from the beginning?

Yes, I do! No doubt!