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Gundersen: No way to stop Fukushima’s radioactive water going into Pacific - It will continue for
It will continue for at least 20-30 years.
http://voiceofrussia.com/2013_08_07/There-is-no-way-to-stop-Fukushima-radioactive-water-leaking-into-the-Pacific-expert-5360/
Yesterday, 21:20
There is no way to stop Fukushima radioactive water leaking into the Pacific - expert
The rate at which contaminated water has been pouring into the Pacific Ocean from the disabled Fukushima nuclear plant is worse than thought before, an Industry Ministry official said Wednesday as PM Shinzo Abe pledged to step up efforts to halt the crisis. The Voice of Russia contacted Arnold Gundersen, founder and president of Fairewinds Associates, to discuss the crisis and the possible solutions. The expert suggests radioactive materials will continue to leak into the global seas unless the plant is surrounded with a trench filled with zeolite. Even then, however, toxic materials will enter the Pacific through underwater sources.
Is it possible to somehow make the wastewater storage basins waterproof and thus rule out leakage?
The horse is already out of the barn here. This plant’s been leaking for two years. And finally, now, the radioactive water has made it to the ocean. But my experience with underground water is that – if it is serious at the ocean, it is more serious as you move away from the ocean. So, spike of radiation continues to move to the ocean.
The Japanese are proposing putting in a barrier to prevent the water from entering the ocean. That is two years too late and will be too late by the time they construct that barrier. But the barrier also causes another problem. If the water can’t go anywhere into the Pacific Ocean, it is going to build up onsite, which means that the nuclear reactors themselves will become unstable. The water can pull underneath the nuclear buildings and if there is an earthquake, in fact the nuclear buildings could topple. So, by solving one problem, they are creating another problem.
<snip>
Domestically, do you expect the latest disclosures about Fukushima to delay decisions on reactivating Japanese nuclear power plants?
I think it should. I think the big problem is that the Japanese Government has not been honest with its people about the cost to clean up Daiichi. I think the cost to clean up just the site is going to be $100 billion. And the cost to clean up the prefecture of Fukushima is going to be another $400 billion.
The Japanese Government hasn’t told the people that they are on the hook for a half a trillion dollars. And I think if the japans people understood the magnitude of the damage a nuclear plant can create, they’d have had second thought about staring up the remaining nuclear plants because it could happen elsewhere. This is the most seismic place on the planet and to build a nuclear plant there is rather foolish.
Yesterday, 21:20
There is no way to stop Fukushima radioactive water leaking into the Pacific - expert
The rate at which contaminated water has been pouring into the Pacific Ocean from the disabled Fukushima nuclear plant is worse than thought before, an Industry Ministry official said Wednesday as PM Shinzo Abe pledged to step up efforts to halt the crisis. The Voice of Russia contacted Arnold Gundersen, founder and president of Fairewinds Associates, to discuss the crisis and the possible solutions. The expert suggests radioactive materials will continue to leak into the global seas unless the plant is surrounded with a trench filled with zeolite. Even then, however, toxic materials will enter the Pacific through underwater sources.
Is it possible to somehow make the wastewater storage basins waterproof and thus rule out leakage?
The horse is already out of the barn here. This plant’s been leaking for two years. And finally, now, the radioactive water has made it to the ocean. But my experience with underground water is that – if it is serious at the ocean, it is more serious as you move away from the ocean. So, spike of radiation continues to move to the ocean.
The Japanese are proposing putting in a barrier to prevent the water from entering the ocean. That is two years too late and will be too late by the time they construct that barrier. But the barrier also causes another problem. If the water can’t go anywhere into the Pacific Ocean, it is going to build up onsite, which means that the nuclear reactors themselves will become unstable. The water can pull underneath the nuclear buildings and if there is an earthquake, in fact the nuclear buildings could topple. So, by solving one problem, they are creating another problem.
<snip>
Domestically, do you expect the latest disclosures about Fukushima to delay decisions on reactivating Japanese nuclear power plants?
I think it should. I think the big problem is that the Japanese Government has not been honest with its people about the cost to clean up Daiichi. I think the cost to clean up just the site is going to be $100 billion. And the cost to clean up the prefecture of Fukushima is going to be another $400 billion.
The Japanese Government hasn’t told the people that they are on the hook for a half a trillion dollars. And I think if the japans people understood the magnitude of the damage a nuclear plant can create, they’d have had second thought about staring up the remaining nuclear plants because it could happen elsewhere. This is the most seismic place on the planet and to build a nuclear plant there is rather foolish.
Via http://enenews.com/gundersen-no-way-to-stop-radioactive-water-going-into-pacific-from-fukushima-plant-it-will-continue-for-at-least-20-30-years
5 replies
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nt.
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