Latest Fukushima Leaks Prompt Grim Assessment from Nuclear Agencies

[villager]

<snip>

The upshot of all this? The problems at Fukushima aren't going away anytime soon. "What's important is not the number itself but to give a basic idea about the extent of the problem," Nuclear Regulatory Authority chairman Shunichi Tanaka told reporters last night, while downplaying the severity of the situation: "I've seen reports that this is a dire situation but that's not true." Tanaka explained the biggest problem facing Fukushima is the "massive amounts of contaminated ground water reaching the sea," according to the AP. The only problem: they don't know how much is escaping, how radioactive it is, or what effect it is having on the local ecosystem. Tanaka also chastised TEPCO for its continued inept handling of every leak and crisis at the plant. "I'm baffled," he said.

This isn't the first time TEPCO has been accused of mishandling leaks, either. It's been a common criticism lobbed at the company, especially this summer, when two other major leaks were already discovered. Japan's industry minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, compared TEPCO's handling of the recurring leaks to playing "whack-a-mole" while announcing the government would play an increased role policing TEPCO's leak clean up.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2013/08/fukushima-leaks-arent-going-away/68811/

[kristopher]

1. K&R

For the ALEC crew.

[phantom power]

2. "they don't know how much is escaping, how radioactive it is, or what effect it is having"

To the extent that anybody has measured anything, the answer so far is "little or no effect"

[villager]

3. I figured that was about all the pro-nukers had in the way of a "safety" argument

Um, er, ah... well, are you dead yet!? No!?

There ya go!

[BlueToTheBone]

4. Oh, I just read a post that says "no problem"

so why all this anxiety? We're fine.