Tepco ‘Whack-a-Mole’ Means Government Takeover in Fukushima

[bananas]

Source: Bloomberg

Japan’s government will lead “emergency measures” to tackle radioactive water spills at the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, wresting control of the disaster recovery from the plant’s heavily criticized operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501)

“We’ve allowed Tokyo Electric to deal with the contaminated water situation on its own and they’ve essentially turned it into a game of ‘Whack-a-Mole,’” Trade Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters last night in Fukushima. “From now on, the government will move to the forefront.”

Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which is led by Motegi, “is working to draw up, by some time in September, both emergency measures and more fundamental steps to eliminate the roots of the contaminated water problem, as well as measures to be carried out going forward,” the Prime Minister’s office said in a response to written questions.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-26/tepco-s-whack-a-mole-means-government-takes-over-in-fukushima.html

[Demeter]

1. Not that one can expect much better from the govt. but at least they will go for outside help

and about time, too!

[Moostache]

2. The mere fact they are admitting to this being out of control is terrifying.

The Japanese government should have been in control of this from day one and instead they allowed a private, profit-based corporation to spin, lie, and obstruct the truth from coming out earlier - which is that they simply do not know what to do about this mess and there are no good options because the costs are enormous to even contain the wreckage let alone clean it up!

The other thing that is very scary is the Japanese government is not exactly a trust-worthy source of information. I imagine we will get a lot of assurances of everything being under control but very little in hard evidence that its true.

[LiberalEsto]

3. Corporations want unfettered freedom...no government control...

until it's time to be held accountable for the hideous damage they cause in the process of making profits. Then the problem falls on the backs of the taxpayers, namely working people.

[The Blue Flower]

4. A question

I live near the locks and fish ladder just north of Seattle (Ballard) and heard a lecture at the fish ladder a few weeks ago. It went something like this: the young salmon make their way out to the Pacific, ingest and store ocean nutrients, then come back to spawn/die. Their rotting bodies then break down to release all of those stored nutrients back into the freshwater ecosystem to replenish it. So what if the salmon come back irradiated? What happens to the freshwater ecosystem when their carcasses break down? How would you go about doing remediation then? Would it even be possible?

[Lochloosa]

6. Answers:

What happens to the freshwater ecosystem when their carcasses break down? The ecosystem becomes irradiated

How would you go about doing remediation then? Doubt that it would be possible.

[jtuck004]

7. You do remediation by removing the contamination and storing it. For a few hundred, or thousand

Last edited Tue Aug 27, 2013, 03:13 PM - Edit history (1)

years.

'Course, you are gonna have to grab the eagles that grab the fish and take them back to their nests as well...

[blackspade]

5. TEPCO should never have been in charge.

They should have paid though.

[wordpix]

8. at least maybe now the DU "clean nukes" crowd will get a clue

but I doubt it b/c I think they work for the nuke industry