Tokyo Professor: Ground Beneath Fukushima Reactors Becoming Increasingly Unstable. “Potential Cata

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Tokyo Professor: Ground Beneath Fukushima Reactors Becoming Increasingly Unstable. “Potential Catastrophe Unfolding In Plain Sight”
Published: August 20th, 2013 at 1:49 pm ET
By ENENews
enenews.com...

The source material:

Fukushima, Fuel Rods, and the Crisis of Divided and Distracted Governance
Source: Japan Focus – Asia Pacific Journal
Author: Andrew DeWit, Professor in the School of Policy Studies at Rikkyo University (Tokyo)
Date: Aug 19, 2013

Expert commentary, including from the METI Nuclear Accident Response Director, has warned that the constant flow of water may lead to further structural instability of the buildings. [...] 1000 tonnes of water per day runs down from the surrounding hills, further softening the ground [...]

So, here we have a potential catastrophe unfolding in plain sight [...] They know – or certainly should know – that they are drifting into ever more risky circumstances, as the volumes of water increasingly render the ground underneath the reactors unstable. All parties also know that Tepco is prepared to start removing fuel rods from November [...]

Given the implications of a mishap in fuel-rod removal, as well as the myriad other problem areas at the plant, the word “shameful” seems hardly strong enough. [...]

enenews.com...

My thoughts? This keeps getting worse and worse. What else can I say. Buy duct tape.

reply to post by this_is_who_we_are


I struggle with the thought of how much nuclear polution can the ocean absorb before becoming toxic? Will the spill travel in a pool - like oil- or will it simply permeate throughout the oceans? Do the Fukishima Rectors hold enough water in their tank systems to pollute the entire ocean and the food supply? There are so many questions that need answers to.

Also I saw a bus with some of the workers in it on RT last night and a worker was interviewed who said the workers were frightened. My heart goes out to those poor people who are having to work on that site and of course all the Japanese people. I know we are scared or nuclear power but perhaps putting nucler stations in unstable and vulnerable places should be part of the remit for the permissions to build them in the first place.

...that's what we need! A Mythbusters episode on the use of Duct Tape in emergent nuclear incidents!

reply to post by Awen24


So.. what is the general consensus on duct tape as a means to keep fallout laden air from coming in anyway?

reply to post by this_is_who_we_are


Well if you put it on your mouth and nose it doesn't come in

LOL ^

I think that's good enough for TEPCO...

reply to post by Awen24


All joking aside, I'm really not looking forward to the removal of the fuel rods in November. This can't be good...

Aside from the fuel rods, there's the matter of three 100 ton blobs of radioactive mess sinking down through the ground to an eventual meeting with the water table resulting in a radioactive steam explosion.

Wall St. Journal: Unknown where Fukushima’s nuclear fuel went; Even if found, they don’t know how to get it out — RT: No one knows where the three 100-ton blobs are
Published: August 18th, 2013 at 8:29 pm ET
By ENENews


Fukushima: “China Syndrome Is Inevitable” … “Huge Steam Explosions”
“Massive Hydrovolcanic Explosion” or a “Nuclear Bomb-Type Explosion” May Occur
Global Research, November 22, 2011

If something went wrong and the site went into uncontrollable meltdown would we ever consider nuking the site?

I don't know if that would even help but if it was the lesser of two evils does it have to be on the table as an option?

Scary thought.

If they have problems in summer what will they do when all the snow melts next spring. I think that may be the outside time limit aka early spring. Buildings on saturated ground are none to stable. Add to that that small EQs will be much more devastating on saturated soil. Not good!

The one fact is that we have no way to fix this. Whichever of the worst case scenarios happens it will be very bad.

They can't just stop and say SNAFU we are all going home cause we can't fix it. The public would never stand for it. So they keep feeding us all crap knowing it is crap and they have little other option.

What else can they do? It is broken - simple as that.

P

reply to post by welshreduk

If something went wrong and the site went into uncontrollable meltdown would we ever consider nuking the site?

Not a viable solution, even if the 100 tones of core didn't go critical from being nuked, putting that into the atmosphere would pretty much guarantee an E.L.E. for mankind and most life on the planet. Should even 1/4 of the mass go critical it's possible to disrupt the plates enough to cause massive global destruction so not good that way either. If your unlucky enough to have the whole pile go, you won't need to worry about anything as there won't be be any survivors. So in short...bad idea.

As far as I know we do not currently have the tech required to remove the piles and there are three of them. All three are headed south and on top of water. Once it hits water and depending on prevailing winds a large section of Japan will be uninhabitable and anything down wind will get hosed. In the words of Crusty the Clown; Ahhhh crap.

Originally posted by this_is_who_we_are
reply to post by Awen24

 

So.. what is the general consensus on duct tape as a means to keep fallout laden air from coming in anyway?

it's hundred mile an hour tape but will fail on pu239 unless it works for 50 thousand years give or take.

liquefaction seems very probable at this point when you factor in the release of 300 tonnes of water a day and 1000 tonnes of water a day coming from the mountains alone, seems like they're filling it up like a big underground balloon to me.

They have reports of steam rising from cracks in the ground already....They are just marking time...............

Originally posted by stirling
They have reports of steam rising from cracks in the ground already....They are just marking time...............

yeah i had a sinking feeling about that as well. the only reasoning possible as to why they were confessing now, was that things are getting worse very fast now and they know it's going to go critical again.

measuring my usual 30-50 CPM this morning, no telling what that will read in a few days as the jet stream brings it my way.

Originally posted by Shiloh7

I struggle with the thought of how much nuclear pollution can the ocean absorb before becoming toxic? Will the spill travel in a pool - like oil- or will it simply permeate throughout the oceans?

Due to entropy the radioactive water will diffuse into the ocean, measured in ppm (parts per million). This along with the radius of radiation per molecule and half life of radioactive material.

In simple terms the way to calculate how serious the situation is, is mostly already available given two questionable variables.... the total volume of radioactive material entering the ocean and the length of time this material will enter the ocean.

The rate the material is released is the factor that effects immediate geography and how strong the effect becomes over time.

Personally although I understand the problem and although a terrible disaster by any standards... this is certainly not an ELE or extinction level event!!

Let me ask the OP a question.... just how many molecules of H2O do they think there is in the Ocean??

to give you an idea... one cup (250ml) of water contains approx 8.36 x 1024 molecules of water... how many cups of water are there in the ocean??

There are around 5.4*1021 cups...

So there are more molecules of H2O in one cup of water than there are cups of water in the ocean...

Korg.

It isn't just the water that is destabilizing the place. The salt water and radiation is are wiping out any integrity the metal or concrete have at an alarming rate. So you have:

The core's running wild doing who knows what underneath.

Radiation eating away at everything

Salt water eating away at everything

No way to contain anything, water, radiation or debris.

Earthquakes are a constant possibility, like the one that caused the problem.

A small pool of under qualified scared workers working to stabilize.

Thankfully, given all that, TEPCO is the sole institution in charge.

Look for the Spent Fuel Pool to Detonate shortly after work starts....

The most frightening part of the article I read is that they need to repeat the process of removal 1300 times without error. That is highly unlikely, especially because it has to be done by humans rather than machines. And taking two to 40 years to do this isn't an option given another quake likelihood. They just need to evacuate that area entirely.

www.lewrockwell.com...

Not sure if anyone truly knows but...
If someone can also please explain how this would be an extinction level event that would be helpful. I am reading that even one rod could kill billions but nothing in scientific journals thus far (that I can find) states this - rather speaks of drinking water for Tokyo or impact within Japan (and we know its already affected more than this so worst case equates to being much worse than just japan but maybe not global).

I am just interested in separating hype from what actual worst case looks like. Maybe no one can really know what the equivalent of 14,000 bombs going off at once would look like or its impact. It seems probable a mistake is going to happen (even a rodent shut electrical off for a period of time so add in all other things that could go wrong it appears we should be prepared for the worst and hope for the best). I hear extinction level event and trust this but also hear arguments for it not being that far reaching (not global).

Item

Expert : Land under Fukushima reactor buildings at risk of turning into liquid — Area near sea could become like mud
Published: August 20th, 2013 at 12:36 pm ET
By ENENews

Source: Tepco yet to track groundwater paths
Liquefaction threat adds to Fukushima ills
The Japan Times
Author: Kazuaki Nagata
Date: Aug 20, 2013

Liquefaction threat adds to Fukushima ills [...]

[The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear] plant, part of which was built on filled-in land, also faces the risk of liquefaction if another big temblor hits. [...]

The large volume of groundwater flowing under the plant is creating [...] the possibility that the land it stands on will liquefy if another major earthquake hits.

The east side of the reactor buildings, in an area close to the sea where land was filled in, appears more vulnerable to liquefaction. [Atsunao Marui, a groundwater expert and principal senior researcher at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology] said the reclaimed land consists of clay and crushed rocks, through which water can easily pass. [...]

And because the [underground] wall is blocking a certain amount of groundwater, the level of groundwater has risen in the fill area, raising the risk of liquefaction if and when another earthquake hits, Tepco said. [...]

“(Tepco) is seeing a danger that the area near the sea might become like mud, so it is pumping up the groundwater,” said Marui. [...]

enenews.com...

If Tepco wanted to pay me a lot of money, I would be on a flight over to clean this mess up. But I want it all up front.