TEPCO Official: Fukushima is Out of Control

[xchrom]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/09/13-7

"I’m sorry, but we consider the situation is not under control."

Those were the words of Kazuhiko Yamashita, executive-level fellow for Fukushima plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company when he was pressed by the opposition Democratic Party of Japan.

His statements directly contradict the claims of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, who assured the International Olympic Committee meeting in Buenos Aires Saturday that the situation is under control.

[PearliePoo2]

1. Ummm...Yamashita? There's a call for you on line 1. It's Prime Minister Abe...

Aaaawwwkwaaard!

More from the article:
Each day brings new disasters, with fresh reports on Friday that steam is billowing from a reactor. Radiation levels at the plant were found to be 18 times higher than TEPCO previously claimed, climbing to a high of 1800 millisieverts per hour—enough to kill a person in just four hours.

TEPCO has poured thousands of tons of water to cool the melted reactors, yet has no sustainable plan for storing it once contaminated. The temporary tanks where the radioactive water is currently being held are springing leaks, releasing the water into the groundwater, and by extension, the sea. TEPCO says it has resorted to patching tank leaks with plastic tape.

Hey IOC....wanna rethink that decision?
(I can't imagine ANY athlete would want to get within a thousand miles of this catastrophic, steaming mess)

[Downwinder]

2. We have a permanent site for the Olympics with an eternal torch.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. See? There IS a good side to everything!

[Bigmack]

4. Duct tape to patch

a tank holding high level radio-active water?! I mean I KNEW duct taped could fix lots of things, but..... Ms Bigmack

[madokie]

8. Even if it was possible for them to build enough tanks to hold all the water

going into the foreseeable future the tanks will start failing in a few years due to corrosion.
The present plan is not a workable solution to this very dangerous situation. In fact the nuclear power industry has no viable plans to deal with these kinds of problems and for that they are nothing but criminals. Anyone in his or her right mind can realize that this is only the beginning of these kinds of mishaps, not the end of them.

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. Plus, they are running out of room for the tanks.

Unless they can come up with something that safely eats radiation, there does not seem to be a solution.

then, there is that typhoon fast approaching the area as of today.
Or yesterday, whatever side of the dateline we are in.

[madokie]

11. Its a mess

A perfect example of why we should not be using nuclear energy.
I'm not sure that this area will ever be safe again in the foreseeable future

[PearliePoo2]

3. It's like the more time that goes by, the worse it gets.

Tritium levels reach new high at Fukushima nuclear plant.

TOKYO —

The operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant said on Friday it found elevated readings of tritium in groundwater near tanks that are holding hundreds of tons of contaminated water at the site.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said tritium levels in water taken from a well close to a number of storage tanks holding irradiated water rose to 97,000 becquerels per liter on Wednesday from 64,000 becquerels/liter measured at the same location a day earlier.


http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/tritium-levels-reach-new-high-at-fukushima-nuclear-plant

[bvar22]

5. It'll get better as time goes by.

A few hundred thousand years should do it.


[font size=3]The Lesson of Fukushima:
As long as we use Nuke Plants,
Fukushima, and WORSE, will happen again,
and again,
and AGAIN.[/font]

Man has never built a Fail Safe machine.

[Wilms]

6. ^

[madokie]

7. Sure it is

has been since day one. The sooner that they allow others to help, if there is anything that anyone can do that is, the better it will be for the whole planet.