JAPAN UPDATE—FACTS ON FUKUSHIMA

June 2: Japan Nuclear Disaster Update
Sara Barczak and Mandy Hancock, June 2, 2011 (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy)

"It has been nearly three months…yet the utility owner/operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), only recently confirmed that three of the nuclear reactors suffered complete meltdowns within hours of the earthquake, with reactor Units 2 and 3 suffering the most damage. The containment vessels of those two reactors also developed 7-10 centimeter holes within hours of the March 11 quake, which explains why workers were unable to maintain water levels. This shocking news comes after weeks of Tepco repeatedly denying the severity of the accident, followed by slow-coming admissions that this already devastating situation is, indeed, worse than most previous calculations.

"…[M]ost of this is not actually ‘new’ news. Aside from the timeline and the size and shape of the holes, much of this information was discussed by [nuclear engineer and expert Arnie Gundersen on the Fairewinds Associates] early on in the crisis. It is unknown at what point Tepco became aware of this information, and it appears that the ‘discovery’ will likely compromise Tepco’s ability to meet its goal to stabilize the damaged nuclear complex by the end of the year."

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"France’s Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety recommends that an additional 70,000 people be evacuated from areas outside the already established 20 km zone, which includes 10,000 children. These figures are based on radiation data collected by U.S. and Japanese radiation monitors. Presently, Japan’s emergency plans for nuclear disasters rely on an old standard of an 8-10 km evacuation zone, despite considerations to expand this to up to 30 km in 2006. The United States evacuation plans are based around a 10-mile radius standard (16 km). It is clear to many that evacuation zones need to be re-examined worldwide…"

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"The nuclear debate here in the U.S. is becoming more intense. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has again raised concerns about the licensing of the AP1000 reactor design, pending revisions to address additional concerns about the reactor’s ability to withstand seismic activity, hurricanes, or tornadoes and potential problems with the design of the cooling system. This news comes over a month after the AP1000 Oversight Group petitioned the NRC to suspend approval of the design, citing similar concerns…

"With all of the information that we have regarding the alleged ‘safety’ of nuclear reactors, it becomes ever more clear that worst case scenarios are difficult to predict and almost impossible to fully prepare for…[Countries like Germany] are moving in the direction of phasing out nuclear power altogether while significantly reducing reliance on polluting fossil fuels and aggressively advancing energy efficiency, conservation and renewables…"