Post by Admin on Sept 9, 2015 2:05:26 GMT










And now, THE LETTER:
Dear Madam,
as you - quite impressively - report, 3 of the Fukushima Daiichi reactors experienced meltdowns, while unit #4 suffered yet another explosion. Whether the fuel assemblies in the spent fuel played any significant role in the latter event is still a matter of debate.
A mere 6 miles to the South of Fukushima Daiichi we find Fukushima Daini, the somewhat more recently constructed twin site featuring 4 reactors. Daini remained under control because of one single circumstance: one of the 4 power lines connected to the site remained operative after the earthquake. Therefore, instrumentation continued to function and essential emergency measures using electric controls could still be performed. However, Daini was literally hanging on a thread.
In contrast to assurances by the nuclear industry - it had always been fervently asserted to be unthinkable for a meltdown to occur more often than once every 100.000 years - in Fukushima three meltdowns happened within a couple of days. Chillingly, not much phantasy is needed to envision an even higher number: the nuclear power plants of Daini (4 reactors), Onagawa (3) and Tokai (2) where all on the brink of failure.
In each of these cases the much touted safety concept, routinely described as “defense in depth”, had come uncomfortably close to being overwhelmed.
While an incredulous public tried to somehow digest the images of exploding NPPs, it transpired that the most lethal hazard had never even been considered: the spent fuel pools.
As you quite accurately describe, the spent fuel pools, containing the fuel assemblies from a number of operating cycles (sometimes “spent” cores linger in these pools for decades) are only protected by a superstructure that is basically identical to that of any commercial warehouse. If the water in those pools should – for whatever reason - no longer sufficiently cover the fuel elements, these are invariably going to ignite.
Under such circumstances an initial hydrogen explosion, which is going to blow out the wall paneling, is inevitable. A nuclear reactor is now operating right under the open sky; no human, no robot is able to get into its vicinity, radiation levels are far too high. The heat being developed pushes the volatilized radioactive inventory upwards until some of it reaches the upper layers of the atmosphere, where it is carried off by the winds.
Naoto Kan, Japanese prime minister at the time of the accident, described the situation as follows: “If all the 10 reactors in Fukushima and all 11 spent fuel pools had exploded, the result would have been 10, even 20 Chernobyls. In that case, the evacuation of all of the Kanto and Tohoku regions would have become necessary. This obviously includes Tokyo. [...] 50 million people.”[1]
Even Mr Kan's dire premonitions may not do justice to the potential risks involved. As Chernobyl (which contaminated almost all of Europe) clearly demonstrated, a catastrophe of such a magnitude would likely have repercussions for the Northern Hemisphere in its entirety.
So I commend you for your detailed analysis. However, you seem to be dodging the most fundamental questions: What on earth could possibly justify a technology that can have such atrocious consequences?
Why are we taking that risk?
Why are we continuing down this nefarious path, even though after Windscale, after Three Mile Island, after Chernobyl and now after Fukushima it has become absolutely clear that this technology transcends our means of controlling it? Why is lying and the suppression of facts still rampant? As this technology is threatening our very existence – why don't we just quit?
1986, four months after the Chernobyl accident, Morris Rosen, nuclear safety expert at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), stated: “Even if there were an accident of this type every year, I would still regard nuclear power as a valuable source of energy.” [2]
Valuable.
Valuable for whom?
Not for business. Private investors are not interested in nuclear power, even when governments offer billions in subsidies. The market knows: economically nuclear power is not viable, not least because of its inherent risks.
Not for the environment. In the course of producing highly toxic wastes that remain dangerous for thousands of years, a some electricity is generated as a by-product. Today the nuclear industry is touting NPPs as a panacea for preventing climate change. Of course, nuclear zealots keep silent about the fact that electricity accounts for a mere 17% of the globe's total energy consumption.[3]
Of these 17%, just about one tenth, 1,7%, is being produced by nuclear. Therefore, in order to combat climate change effectively by using nuclear, we would have to embark on an enormous building spree. Even if we put the pharaonic costs incurred by such a monstrous project aside, the insolvable problem of how to handle the nuclear waste would be immeasurably exacerbated yet again.
What then is the magic ingredient that makes this technology so valuable?
Nuclear power. Power. The word not only denotes a means of getting machinery to work, its other, more abstract meaning is: might. And nowhere more power, a higher density of energy - figuratively, a higher concentration of might - can be found than within a reactor's core. The one who controls this power can truly feel powerful, he may even, for a fleeting moment, imagine to be able to control the forces of nature itself. And there is also another boon to be harvested. The toxic elements out of the reactor core are just the stuff from which the symbol of power in our times is produced: the nuclear bomb.[4]
It can evaporate tens of thousands of people within seconds, can condemn tens of thousands more to a slow and miserable death.
As long as there are “powers” that think it wise to stockpile machines which can eradicate human life (including their own), as long as this perverted lust to self-destruct is being tolerated, the victims of nuclear power will be acceptable as collateral damage, their suffering negligible. As these unfortunate individuals face the horror that has been brought into this world by nuclear technology, they are the harbingers of an unimaginable future.
Unimaginable, because no longer existent -
for these suffering victims: today,
for the rest of us: tomorrow.
Best regards, A. Reader
1) www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfvnJANj0Q0
2) mondediplo.com/2008/04/14who#nb13
3) de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weltenergiebedarf
4) The inextricably interwoven nature of so called “peaceful nuclear power” and its military potential has now for years been demonstrated by the row over the conditions to be met by Iran in order to be allowed to continue with nuclear.
Image source:
Picture 1: Japan sits right on the pacific Ring of Fire … www.planet-wissen.de/natur/naturgewalten/vulkane de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pazifischer_Feuerring www.livescience.com/30226-japan-tectonics-explosive-geology-ring-of-fire-110314.html
Picture 2: This country went through Hiroshima and Nagasaki … www.spiegel.de/spiegelgeschichte/a-791849-6.html www.textinitiative-fukushima.de/pages/projekte/japanologie-leipzig www.wsws.org/en/articles/2011/06/fuku-j23.html
Picture 3: 1960ies: The decision is taken … www.tec-sim.de/index.php/component/content/article/50-fukushima/330-kapitel-1
Picture 4: The cliffs stand 100 ft tall … afaz.at/downloads/fairewinds/podcast_fairewinds_2013_10_03_tour_fukushima.pdf
Picture 5: The building site: Even then it had been known for years … de.nucleopedia.org/wiki/Kernkraftwerk_Fukushima-Daiichi www.zamg.ac.at/docs/aktuell/20120417_Fukushima_Bericht.pdf www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/12/general-electric-knew-reactor-design-unsafe www.heise.de/tp/news/General-Electric-und-die-Sicherheit-der-Fukushima-Reaktoren-2004652
Picture 6: Grid connection for unit 1 is in 1971 … de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernkraftwerk_Fukushima_Daiichi www.textinitiative-fukushima.de/pages/projekte/japanologie-leipzig/akw--gegner-und-befuerworter/ (Takashi Hirose, Folie 14, 00:33:17)
Picture 7: Today we know that the operator, TEPCO … www.wsws.org/en/articles/2011/03/tepc-m17.html www.wsws.org/de/articles/2011/03/tepc-m18.html www.dw.de/tepcos-skandaltr%C3%A4chtige-erfolgsgeschichte/a-6588693
Picture 8: On March 11, 2011 a Richter scale 9 earthquake … Ein Strommast fällt um: Persönliche Auskunft Dr. Sebastian Pflugbeil. www.scinexx.de/wissen-aktuell-14033-2011-10-26.html www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/MH12Dh01.html
Picture 9: Within minutes the tsunami hits … www.spreadnews.de/fukushima-aktuell-tepco-kannte-risiko-hoeherer-tsunami-seit-jahren/1146457/
Picture 10: Afterwards, everything is engulfed by water … www.fairewinds.org/nuclear-energy-education/fairewinds-arnie-gundersen-presentation-at-helen-caldicott-foundation-symposium
Picture 11: Immediately government swings into action ... ex-skf.blogspot.de/2012/03/japanese-governments-global-media-blitz.html www.op-online.de/region/dietzenbach/fukushima-folgeschaeden-sind-offiziell-tabu-2724340.html fukushima-diary.com/2011/11/lets-die-together-marathon/ fukushimaupdate.com/fukushima-ambassadors-to-eat-and-support-east-japan/ www.dentsu-pr.com/case_studies/case10.html
Picture 12: Fuel rods are hollow pipes made of zirconium alloys … de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brennstab
Picture 13: Adjacent to every reactor there is a spent fuel pool … de.wikipedia.org/wiki/abklingbecken
Picture 14: When the water level gets too low … www.japannewstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2ukushimaDaiichiNuclearPlantUnit41.jpg enformable.com/fukushima-radiation-data/foia-documents-related-to-fukushima-daiichi-reactor-4/ www.zamg.at/docs/aktuell/lnf2012_vortraege/krisenfall-fukushima_gerhard-wotawa.pdf nuclearhistory.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/the-fires-in-spent-fuel-pool-number-4-fukush
Picture 15: On March 12, unit 1 explodes … www.youtube.com/watch?v=psAuFr8Xeqs
Picture 16: On March 14 it is unit 3 that blows up … www.nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/p/videos-moderated-prompt-criticality.htmlf www.textinitiative-fukushima.de/pages/projekte/japanologie-leipzig/akw--gegner-und-befuerworter (Takashi Hirose, Folie 15, 00:33:30)
Picture 17: A nuclear explosion? This is exactly what happened in Chernobyl … www.rri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/NSRG/reports/kr79/kr79pdf/Malko1.pdf oe1.orf.at/programm/402303 www.youtube.com/watch?v=DauydArajAo afaz.at/downloads/2013/millionensarg_arte_2002.pdf
Picture 18: We apologize for any inconvenience … www.greenpeace-magazin.de/entschuldigung-f%C3%BCr-die-unannehmlichkeiten
Picture 19: Unit 2 looks unscathed. However … afaz.at/downloads/fairewinds/podcast_fairewinds_2013_10_03_tour_fukushima.pdf
Picture 20: Unit 1 … 2.bp.blogspot.com/-QLwxrrPYjb8/Tw7AfSAjSII/AAAAAAAA-3-30-0-50-45.jpg
Zwischentext: These are the other buildings … nukeprofessional.blogspot.de/p/pictures-high-quality.html fukushima-diary.com/2015/04/videophoto-the-dead-robot-reported-10-svh-in-reactor-1-grating-covered www.zeit.de/wissen/umwelt/2011-06/akw-fukushima-mantel-lage
Picture 21: Unit 3 … 4.bp.blogspot.com/-LiutsUhUxJM/Tw7AoY8hFnI/AAAArial-2011-3-30-3-20-15.jpg
Picture 22: Unit 4 … 1.bp.blogspot.com/-RqjH_9n0zNE/Tw7Am5rRP4Is1600/aerial-2011-3-30-3-20-0.jpg
Picture 23: TEPCO is constantly pumping seawater into the ruins … www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/05/21/reference/fukushima-no-1-cant-keep-its-head-above-tainted
Picture 24: Evacuations finally start … majiasblog.blogspot.de/2015/03/fukushima-anniversary-interview.html
Picture 25: So – are scientists and engineers … www.nirs.org/fukushima/expert-ltr-bankimoon-09-2013.pdf
Picture 26: Are the international media present … www.spreadnews.de/vier-jahrestage-sind-nicht-genug-blicke-auf-fukushima/1145515/ www.ippnw.de/commonFiles/pdfs/Forum/Forum132_fukushima.pdf
Picture 27: On December 16, 2011 Japanese … fukushima-diary.com/2015/03/jp-pm-abe-my-saying-under-control-was-only-to-reassure-2020-olympics/ www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/review/index-e.html www.nature.com/news/fukushima-reaches-cold-shutdown-1.9674
Picture 28: What about today, 4 years later? … zeit.de/wissen/umwelt/2013-08/fukushima-wassertanks-lecks-tepco
Picture 29: However: To the great surprise of all experts … www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/12/20/national/all-spent-fuel-removed-from--says/#.VYnAABvtmkp www.nytimes.com/2014/12/21/world/asia/fuel-rods-are-removed-from-japans-damaged-fukushima
Picture 30: Other efforts to mitigate the disaster … Yakuzas rekrutieren Arbeiter: Persönliche Auskunft Dr. Sebastian Pflugbeil www.textinitiative-fukushima.de/pages/projekte/japanologie-leipzig/akw--gegner-und-befuerworter www.welt.de/vermischtes/weltgeschehen/article13769147/Werden-Maenner-zur-Arbeit-in-Fukushima-gezwungen
Picture 31: Radiation is still continuously being released … www.heise.de/tp/news/Fukushima-Kein-Ende-in-Sicht-2570430.html fukushima-diary.com/2015/06/still-960000bq-of-cs-134137-and-2336000000bq-of-noble-gas-discharge iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/7/3/034004/article agreenroad.blogspot.com/2013/01/at-fukushima-3-coriums-left-containment.html
Picture 32: ... balloon-bombs drifted from Japan right across the Pacific … www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/06/radioactive-dust-from-japan-hit-north-america-days-after-disaster enenews.com/fukushima-plume-model-shows-1-million-bqm2-west-coast-after-explosions-tv-emails
Picture 33: And where are the molten cores? enenews.com/ap-biggest-question-fukushimas-melted-fuel-asahi-fuel-mainichi-one-fuel-experts-nuclear www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/10/fixing-fukushima-is-beyond-current-technology.html www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/04/chief-fukushima-nuclear-power-station-admitted-technology-needed
Picture 34: Critical observers come to a very different conclusion … enenews.com/image-published-embassy-japan-shows-fukushima-melted-fuel-deep-underground-photo enenews.com/fukushima-reactor-cores-melt-china-syndrome-gone-earth-1500-pounds-plutonium enenews.com/official-document-shows-molten-nuclear-fuel-burned-bottom-containment-vessel-fukushima-tepco-leaks-coming-reactor
Picture 35: The influx of groundwater from the mountains … www.zdf.de/ZDF/zdfportal/blob/31185784/1/data.pdf videos2fun.com/rhgCFvhx1eU/ www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/industrie/tepco-fukushima-betreiber-steigert-gewinn/11701092.html
Picture 36: In the course of the past years, various mass extinctions … ag-schacht-konrad.de/images/stories/Fukushima/aktuell/Pazifik-Artikel.pdf www.spreadnews.de/fukushima-aktuell-affen-der-praefektur-weisen-caesiumbelastung-auf/1145284/ www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-05-23/guest-post-unprecedented-mass-die-offs-pacific-ocean-turning-desert www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/12/28/starfish-dying-wasting-disease-mystery/4208859/
Picture 37: Why is it, that a big enterprise like TEPCO … www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/plutonium-fukushima-made-it-around-planet www.ctbto.org/press-centre/highlights/2011/fukushima-related-measurements-by-the-ctbt/ www.washingtonsblog.com/2014/05/nuclear-fuel-fragment-fukushima-found-europe.html
Picture 38: In February 2015 the IAEA … theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2015/05/21/tepco-may-need-to-dump-fukushima-waste-water
Picture 39: According to its statute, the IAEA is a lobbying organization … iaea.org www.handelsblatt.com/politik/international/japans-atom-desaster-die-iaea-schaut-zu-und-schweigt/4044932.html
Picture 40: ... and for the peaceful use of adhesion contracts … www.taz.de/1/archiv/?dig=2006/04/22/a0139 afaz.at/html/libblog.html#118
Picture 41: Soon after the IAEA's visit, TEPCO “discovers” … www.blogs.ausgestrahlt.de/fukushima/fukushima-hochradioaktives-wasser-ins-meer-geleitet/ www.spreadnews.de/fukushima-aktuell-tepco-verschwieg-strahlungsgrad-radioaktiver-abwaesser/1146311/ www.dropbox.com/s/rm8t0j68rj1uthl/TEPCO%20under-reported%20cesium%20.pdf