The status of Fukushima - 11/07/2013

Here is a good summing up of the status of Fukushima from Mike Ruppert -

---- I have read and watched over all of the overnight postings here. I have also scanned or read all of the latest breaking news stories.

At the moment it is not possible to discern whether TEPCO is or is not going ahead with attempts to remove the rods, possibly as soon as tomorrow.. There are just too many conflicting stories and a lot of fresh propaganda and lies trying to convince the imprisoned, slow campers that everything is under control. There's obviously fraudulent and misleading video and reportage that turns the stomach. The intensity of the propaganda push signals that something big is happening soon.

On the other hand we have clear, compelling, redundant, well-sourced information and documentation that the following is true:

-- GE and the US government are withholding any tech support or physical assistance for Japan until Japan agrees to hold GE harmless for all liability, and that all liability rests with TEPCO. GE designed the reactors and the site, including removal of more than 100 feet of cliff height which would have prevented the meltdowns. GE built the reactors with horrendous design flaws and reportedly still owns them. TEPCO is only the operator.

-- Given the actual state of Bldg 4, and the statements of many nuclear experts there really is no available plan to successfully remove the fuel assemblies from Bldg 4 and this has been acknowledged. Just days ago the Japanese ruling party issued a statement saying that it did not trust TEPCO to attempt the removal.

-- As of this moment my understanding is that Japan, TEPCO, and the Yakuza are completely on their own. It has been abundantly documented on many occasions over the last 2.5 years that these guys do not even remotely possess the skill sets necessary to even attempt to deal with this crisis.

My gut still says that if there is the slightest bit of sanity anywhere, the attempt will not be made. Yet the fact remains that this leaves all life awaiting the next earthquake, tsunami, typhoon, butterfly effect... or the absolute certainty that at some point the saturated ground under the plant will give way and bring the tottering Bldg 4 to the ground, the fuel assemblies with it. Perhaps one of the cooling towers that have broken loose from it moorings will fall into Bldg 4. Perhaps many of the tanks will rupture, multiplying the already astronomical amounts of radiation being released daily...

But most certainly the genocide of the Pacific Ocean will continue apace -- as it has for 2.5 years -- as both atmospheric and water-borne radiation levels continue to soar and set records.

In any event, the outcome looks the same from all directions.

That's where we are.

Japan to begin removal of fuel rods from Fukushima plant

TEPCO is preparing to begin the dangerous task of extracting over 1,500 nuclear fuel rods from the Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant. The risky operation is an essential step in to stabilize the site, in a process that could take decades.

RT,

7 November, 2013

Removing the spent fuel from a pool inside the Fukushima Daiichi plant’s fourth reactor presents significant risks given the radioactivity of the rods is 14,000 times more than what was released during the 1945 Hiroshima bombing. A slight mishap could release a huge amount of radiation into the atmosphere.

The removal of fuel is part of regular work at any nuclear power plant, but "conditions are different from normal because of the disaster," said company spokeswoman Mayumi Yoshida.

Tokyo Electric Power’s plan for the extraction of the rods was approved by the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization Wednesday and will begin mid-November. Extraction was originally due to begin on Friday, but the Nuclear Energy Safety Organization called for more safety tests which set back the process.

The operation will entail lifting bundles of the 4-meter-long uranium and plutonium rods out of the storage pool where they were being kept when the earthquake-triggered tsunami struck Fukushima in 2011.

The rods will then be individually transferred into a water-filled cask and loaded onto a truck to be transported to a more secure site on the territory of the power station. TEPCO has assured that the 18-month process will go off without a hitch and that the necessary measures have been taken to ensure safety. 

The company has reinforced the storage pool where the rods are being held with steel and concrete and claim that it can withstand an earthquake of the same magnitude as the one in 2011.

In addition, a steel shell has been constructed to block radiation leaks while the rods are being moved.

Unknown territory

Doubts have been raised over TEPCO’s initiative. Scientists have urged caution as such an operation has never been undertaken.

“Handling spent fuels involves huge risks," said Shunichi Tanaka, chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority. "It would be a disaster if radioactive materials come out of the metal rods during the work.”

"This is the first practical milestone for the project," said Hiroshi Miyano, a nuclear systems expert and visiting professor at Hosei University in Tokyo.

"Any trouble in this operation will considerably affect the timetable for the entire project," he said to AFP. "This is an operation TEPCO cannot afford to bungle."

Christina Consolo, the founder and host of Nuked Radio, who has studied the Fukushima disaster in depth, told RT that she was not optimistic that the operation would be successful.

“The worst-case scenario is that there’s a nuclear chain reaction, a criticality in the pool during this procedure and it can’t be stopped,” she said.

Still, Consolo said Japan has no option but to proceed with the operation, as they can’t leave the fuel rods where they are, as “even a mild earthquake could cause the building to collapse.” 

Arnold Gunderson, a nuclear power expert, explained to RT that what they will attempt to do at Fukushima has never been done before but it has to be done, because it is too dangerous to keep the nuclear fuel “way up in the air” given the seismic problems facing the crippled plant.

“There is more radioactivity in that fuel pool than in all the bombs than in all the bombs that were fired in above ground testing. So we have the equivalent of 700 nuclear bombs worth of material in that fuel pool. These [the fuel rods] are not going to pull out easily and the fear is, is that they might snap and release the radiation that’s inside them,” he told RT.

If one of the rods were to be exposed to the air it would release radiation and heat up, potentially triggering a self-sustaining nuclear reaction. TEPCO has said that this is unlikely to occur.

TEPCO’s management of the crisis situation has been criticized as haphazard and ill-planned, with one Japanese minister likening it to a game of “whack-a-mole.” Currently the organization is battling to stop leaks of radioactive water from the tanks used to cool the reactors.

While the extraction of the fuel rods represents a significant challenge for TEPCO, the much more complex task of removing the misshapen cores of the stricken reactors awaits scientists.

Dangerous Phase: Fukushima's radioactive fuel rods to move to safe storage

RT

Japan is bracing itself for the most dangerous operation at the Fukushima nuclear plant since it was crippled by a quake and tsunami in March 2011. The company running the facility plans to move radioactive fuel rods to safe storage. RT's Alexey Yaroshevsky is in Japan for us. Christina Consolo, Founder and Host of Nuked Radio, doubts that engineers will be able to pull this off - given the level of damage at the plant.

And here is the bogus, propaganda footage, purportedly from inside Fukushima

And if you haven't already seen it, here is the public relations video put out by Tepco