Japan is just north of the Philippines, remember? Are we paying close attention?
New video footage showed leaks within the Fukushima plant's broken reactors which means that damaged atomic rods could not be taken out as planned.
The nuclear power station’s operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) detected 30 millisieverts per hour of radiation, which is regarded as a high reading.
“It’s very difficult to remove a spent rod because parts of the wall and the bottom of the reactor are all melted. We’ve never had to deal with this before so that adds to the complication,” said Kazuaki Matsui, the executive director of Japan’s Institute of Applied Energy.
The flowing of the contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean has concerned the international community.
On October 3, TEPCO said that Japanese technicians had found a new leak of radioactive water in a storage tank belonging to the damaged power station.
In August, 300 tons of radioactive water was found to have leaked from a separate tank. Read more on PressTV
Ideas the world's scientist have on Fukushima and Japan's Fukushima clean-up
ARIRANG, Nov. 19, 2013
For an expert's take on what's at stake here and a possible implication to its neighboring countries including Korea., Dr. Suh Kune-yull , Professor of Nuclear Engineering at Seoul National University in the Arirang studio. Watch that video here
Some questions asked in the studio:
Dr. Suh Kune-yull: Yeah. There’s good reason to be. Actually, they’re talking about removing these fuel bundles -- 1,500 of them -- if there’s any one mistake, it’s going to be a disaster. That source itself is like a 1,000 nuclear bombs. Think about Hiroshima, so they’re talking about 10,000 times more radioactive material. That’s the hottest spot on the planet...
2. It's been more than two years since the meltdowns of reactors at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant. So, why did they just start the clean up now? What led to the fuel rod removal in the first place?
2. It's been more than two years since the meltdowns of reactors at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant. So, why did they just start the clean up now? What led to the fuel rod removal in the first place?
Dr. Suh Kune-yull: It’s not actually long enough in fact. […] They’re talking about 3 totally molten reactors plus Unit 4 which is 1,500 fuel bundles high up in the air […] it looks like they’re just moving forward, probably politically, not technically...
3. Would you eat fish after more than 30 years of radiation leakage into ocean? […]
3. Would you eat fish after more than 30 years of radiation leakage into ocean? […]
Dr. Suh Kune-yull: It’s a matter of public trust. Both the Japanese and Korean governments have dropped the ball on that. They’ve lost the public trust. No matter what they say we’re not listening. I’m not listening, either...
4. If there’s to be an earthquake or tsunami, what would be the consequences be like? […]
4. If there’s to be an earthquake or tsunami, what would be the consequences be like? […]
Dr. Suh Kune-yull: Another earthquake — there will be a real disaster, a real final blow — because one more earthquake or even tsunami and they can ruin the rest of the (nuclear) plants. […] There’s going to be a real disaster, which we can hardly imagine. […] What can they do about it? Just keep their fingers crossed.
