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Fukushima Daiichi: Why It’s So Hard To Clean Up

Fukushima Daiichi: Why It’s So Hard To Clean Up, Fairewinds Energy Education, Dec. 20, 2013:

Arnie Gundersen, Fairewinds chief engineer:  (1:30 in) At Fukushima Daiichi, the nuclear fuel is in contact with the groundwater, because the groundwater has leaked into the bottom of the containment building and it’s gotten into other buildings that surround the containment. That makes Fukushima Daiichi  much more expensive to solve and much more difficult to contain [compared to Chernobyl].

Gundersen: (2:15 in) We need an underground sarcophagus to prevent the groundwater from entering the Fukushima reactors. I think once that’s accomplished, there’s no need to decommission these power plants and turn them back to the ground they are in. The reason for that is the exposure to young brave Japanese workers is going to be way too high for almost 100 years. Because of the explosions and because of the fact that the groundwater has moved parts of the nuclear fuel out into surrounding buildings, the risk to the workers is way too high. It’s time to contain the groundwater, cover-up that site, and walk away for 100 years. The Japanese government doesn’t want that to happen because they want their population to think that this is a solvable problem. It isn’t. The best thing for the Japanese to do is to admit that they’re going to have to live with radioactive rubble at the Fukushima site for over 100 years.

http://enenews.com/gundersen-nuclear-fuel-has-been-moved-by-groundwater-below-fukushima-reactors-its-time-to-walk-away-from-plant-for-next-100-years-once-an-underground-sarcophagus-is-built-much-more-difficult