by Ethan A. Huff / NaturalNews.com / October 16, 2012 /
Though the mainstream media has long since abandoned the issue, the precarious situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility in Japan is only continuing to worsen, according to a prominent Japanese official. During a recent interview, Mitsuhei Murata, the former Japanese Ambassador to both Switzerland and Senegal, explained that the ground beneath the plant’s Unit 4 is gradually sinking, and that the entire structure is very likely on the verge of complete collapse.
This is highly concerning, as Unit 4 currently holds more than 1,500 spent nuclear fuel rods, and a collective 37 million curies of deadly radiation that, if released, could make much of the world completely uninhabitable. As some Natural News readers will recall, Unit 4 contains the infamous elevated cooling pool that was severely damaged following the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that struck on March 11, 2011.
According to the Secretary of former Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, the ground beneath Unit 4 has already sunk by about 31.5 inches since the disaster, and this sinking has taken place unevenly. If the ground continues to sink, which it is expected to, or if another earthquake of even as low as a magnitude six occurs in the region, the entire structure could collapse, which would fully drain the cooling pool and cause a catastrophic meltdown.
“If Unit 4 collapses, the worse case scenario will be a meltdown, and a resultant fire in the atmosphere. That will be the most unprecedented crisis that man has ever experienced. Nobody will be able to approach the plants … as all will have melted down and caused a big fire,” said Murata during the interview. “Many scientists say if Unit 4 collapses, not only will Japan lie in ruin, but the entire world will also face serious damages.”
Because there are 31 nuclear units of a similar type to Unit 4 in the U.S., the American government has been downplaying the disaster to protect its own reputation, alleges Murata. This is, in fact, the primary reason why so little has been reported on the severity of Fukushima following the disaster. The American empire, in other words, does not want the world, nor the American people, to know that there is the possibility of literally dozens of Fukushima situations occurring on American soil, should the right disaster situations arise.
You can watch the full 3:51 minute translated interview with Murata at the following link:
http://youtu.be/-LCTv65aqgA
Sources for this article include:
http://www.naturalnews.com/035789_Fukushima_Cesium-137_Plume-Gate.html
October 21, 2012 at 3:30 pm ·
Over a year and a half later, and they haven’t done a thing to remove, reinforce, contain, control, dismantle, decommission, or in any way lessen the severity of impact on the environment, atmosphere, ocean’s, population, or planet in general. What the hell are they waiting for? It won’t fix itself, and apparently nobody is interested in fixing it, they’re too busy lying and covering up crimes and incompetence to do anything productive, I think we need to nuke them again to move things along.
November 27, 2012 at 12:37 pm ·
@JOEBANNANA, Dear Joe, The situation concerning the damaged Fukushima reactors is by far more challenging than the average person can imagine. To begin with Joe, I recommend that you educated yourself with a basic knowledge of nuclear physics, organic/inorganic chemistry, the basic principles of light water reactors, including a simple description of the refueling process and the properties of new and spent fuel. Understanding the elementary technical knowledge is necessary before making judgmental comments such as yours. Be aware that possible engineering solutions leading to corrective/preventive actions need to be thought out with intense scrutiny before being implemented. You can be totally assured that scientists, engineers and other technical experts are racking their brains exhausting virtually every resource available in attempts to bring an end to this crisis. Nobody is “waiting” to fix this problem! EVERYONE is more than just interested in helping. The severity of the situation is not “covered up” so much it may be kept low-key for a variety of reasons not easily explained. My bottom line is: If anyone is going to get nuked, it’ll be all of Mankind along with most of the animal kingdom!
April 6, 2013 at 11:36 pm ·
@Carlos, those are pretty words but the fact of the matter is I have not seen any proposals on how to deal with this dilemma.
May 19, 2013 at 6:58 pm ·
No, we CAN’T be reassured that “experts” are hard at work. People are ignorant of how much danger is out there and they are countries opening plants even though a global killer lies idle and waiting for experts to fix it. None of us got a vote about populating our planet with nuclear plants. My vote would have been NO. There are too many forseeable and unforseeable dangers involved. The public will only be told what’s in the politicians and businessman’s best interest to be told, so I’m in no mood to give any of them the benefit of the doubt.
November 28, 2012 at 5:09 am ·
In response to JOEBANANA
Your comments reveal an apparent lack of the fundamental technical knowledge required in understanding the challenges involved in solving this crisis. Start with a basic understanding of nuclear physics, Organic/Inorganic Chemistry, A brief on the principles of light water reactors, including the re-fueling process, and the differences between new and spent fuel compared to damaged fuel. I don’t expect you to get a degree or anything, but until you have an idea of what the experts are up against, your comments only make an ass out of you!
January 4, 2013 at 1:32 pm ·
Carlos,
How dare you. I grew up litteraly withing a mile of the construction of the Limerick Plant near Philadelphia Pa.. I clearly remember wanting to spray paint a black skull and crossbones on the pavement on a short hill on the road to its entrance so that all the workers would have to look at it evertday on their way in. Being an law abiding citizen, I didn’t.
Carlos- first idiots and evil people like you do stupid greedy stuff like this and when the chickens come home to roost and we yell you call us stupid. It is YOU folks that are stupid or evil or both. As Bill Mollison states clearly- evil is just rigorously applied stupidity.
You should be ashamed of yourself AND your comments.
April 7, 2013 at 11:21 am ·
Eric Smith please grow up. If James Lovelock (author of The Revenge of Gaia), James Hansen (originator of Global Warming awareness), and Richard Muller (author of Energy for Future Presidents) all recommend nuclear power, then maybe you’re the idiot.
December 31, 2012 at 5:54 pm ·
My question for you, JoeBanana, is why you bothered to comment when you don’t bother to follow all the removal, reinforcement, containment, controlling, dismantling, decommissioning and all the other impact-reduction activites that have been going on apace at Fukushima Daiichi? December 2012 status report – longish read, but indicating the breadth of activity.
But clearly your response – “nuke them again” – show you have no interest in real solutions.
March 27, 2013 at 4:09 pm ·
The time for “real solutions” was before they decided to build a nuclear power plant on a fault line. Or when they decided to put the back-up generators below sea level, right next to the sea. Redundant cooling pumps, what’s that? Elevated spent fuel rod storage pools? What an ingenious space saving idea, but doesn’t cooling water flow down hill? Why didn’t they just build the thing in the ocean? No cooling water problem, don’t even need pumps, no tsunami threat, that happens on land, and when thousands of gallons of radioactive waste water leak, it’s already in the ocean.
March 15, 2013 at 4:15 am ·
Joebanana; Nuke them again? What and spread the stuff around farther?!! If the only time you can figure out what to say is when you are sitting on the back of a pickup with a beer in your hand please stay off these sites. They are supposed to be for honest discucssion.
October 21, 2012 at 11:18 pm ·
And i was worried about out living my retirement! there is almost next to nothing about fukushima in japantoday and there is not much news from other sources. this is very worrying as most people seem to think that the disaster is over. it was apparent from the beginning that meltdown had occurred and that the disaster was as great as chernobyl. if those fuel rods become uncovered, many won’t need to worry about retirement.
October 22, 2012 at 7:23 am ·
Why the American government has been acting so dumb, if there is no life then what the hell are they down playing???
October 22, 2012 at 1:46 pm ·
I was cooking my oatmeal this morning and thought…
?When there is a very good chance that the entire world can be (metaphorical) set inside a MICROWAVE OVEN…
and man&its kind eradicated forever if there is just one natural disaster ( x31 identical plants in the US alone…)
HOW very silly does a 500 million $ council set up to study/regulate it seem?
END ARCHAIC NUCLEAR POWER NOW!!! We know better now.2012.
Put jobs into Waves.Wind.Solar. More expensive??yep.at first. cause they come with an unarguably valid insurance policy.
October 22, 2012 at 9:19 pm ·
Having handled quite a few fuel assemblies over reactors and fuel pools, I have some thoughts about this situation, especially given that it is described as having planet threatening proportions. First, the assemblies, now at minimum of eighteen months (and many much longer) out of the reactor, require significantly reduced cooling, and might be extractable from the pool by helicopter (particularly if the airship is shadowed by a metal plate fixture just above the assembly on the handling cable) and then placed into shipping casks. These casks, like the ones routinely used for spent fuel rods in the U.S., can be much cheaper under emergency circumstances, but fully effective for relocation and certainly cooling requirements, within some limits. A procedure and a grappling fixture are needed to grasp and carry the assemblies – air exposure is not a problem as long as distance and time constraints are observed, and some risk would seem reasonable given the looming consequences of doing nothing. Of course, I would never have signed off on the bone headed idea of elevating the spent fuel pool in the first place, but for sure, common sense and a tiny bit of engineering talent must surely be available somewhere today. Another thing, since TEPCO apparently went cheap on diesel backup, they might consider making a base hit by placing some water pumps at the pool to bathe the assemblies if the structure subsides. Just keeping them wet, with a little bit of convective and evaporative cooling from modest water flow would prevent a disaster. Any chance of criticality could be removed with a nice inventory of Borax on hand, until the more reactive assemblies are removed. I suspect that the efficacy of the grappling tool could be enhanced by sizing it to the pool rack cell dimensions and making a slip fit to grab the upper foot or so of the assembly once it has cleared the rack, making it safer to carry by air. Cable length versus radiation dose would be a routine calculation for pilots’ safety margins, plus of course, a meter. Fuel assemblies are heavy, but well within the capabilities of some craft. Orinarily a minimum of six feet of water is sufficient shielding, and the cable distance to the airship will not have to be density proportionately longer if inverse distance squared and the effect of the scattering plate are included. If this thing is so damn dangerous, then we ought to be doing this right now.
February 26, 2013 at 11:53 pm ·
Stephen, you seem to know quite a bit about this … do you know if any SAFE way to handle spent fuel rods? I have long been opposed to nuclear energy, even though it was touted as being a wonderful energy source, because there did not seem to be any safe way to handle the radioactive waste. This technology has been around for a long time now. Have we figured out how to safely store, reuse, or dispose of the waste, no you know? Thanks, Donna
March 24, 2013 at 10:14 pm ·
There is one thing people seem to be forgetting. There should be no chance of a criticality any longer. The fuel has built up too much neutron absorbing materials from several years of fission reactions.! Which is why they were taken out of the reactor, they can no longer under-go a sustained chain reaction, no criticality!
March 24, 2013 at 10:27 pm ·
If it were me I would leave the stuff (used fuel) right where it is at, in the fuel pool. Not hurting anything right now and if it is not moved you do’nt have to worry about an accident. The only thing I would take out would be the unused new fuel bundles and ship them to an operating reactor that needs new fuel. In other words, if it ai’nt broke , do’nt fix it!! Maybe concentrate on getting some shielding around the reactors so the rest of the cleanup can progress.
October 24, 2012 at 12:32 am ·
FUKUSHIMA – the SECRET TRUTH: A ILLUMINATI SABOTAGE OPERATION IN THE ENGINEERING OF THE GENERAL ELECTRIC DESIGNED REACTORS.
These GE General electric reactor design is from the USA, and was BUILT TO FAIL on the event of an emergency that required to urgently cool the nuclear reactor.
All the safety valves where non operational by design, and could not be activated when after the Tsunami, the operators tried to cool down the nuclear core.
It is not ignorance or incompetence, but systemic, on purpose technical sabotage from the conceptors of this USA General Electric nuclear generator.
The emergency cooling valves engineering have been covertly manipulated to neutralize all attempts of opening these cooling valves to lower the temperature of the nuclear reactor in an overheating emergency scenario.
There is 30 others such nuclear bombs plants in Japan, and over 30 in the USA. Over that, almost all nuclear plants have been located on purpose on seismic fault lines.
The seismic signature of this earthquake does not correspond in any manner to the profile of earthquakes, but exhibit the exact profile of a nuclear explosion. This proves that it was not of natural origin, but was the result of a US covert operation of exploding a nuclear bomb right inside the deep sea seismic fault line.
Almost ALL the Nuclear Plants in the world have been built ON PURPOSE on seismic fault lines. It is a concerted plan of destruction of humanity & life by the enemies of life that have taken complete covert control of our ancient paradise planet.
The Illuminati have put these time bombs disguised as nuclear reactors all around the world with this on purpose secret technical sabotage.
November 22, 2012 at 5:07 pm ·
This makes sense. If they are in control and have their plan, of course they will control the nuclear issues and allow to set off when they are ready, not when mother nature is ready.
So they can hide in their protected hidden bunkers with their elite and be saved
October 24, 2012 at 2:11 pm ·
I don’t want to minimize the grave danger here, but the photograph is deceptive, in that it hasn’t been properly corrected for barrel distortion and convergence (perspective distortion), which make the structure look like it is about to topple over. Any competent Photoshop tech could fix this. It is also generally a poor quality image — I’m surprised the photographer didn’t do a better job with decent equipment. This looks like a snapshot taken with a cellphone.
November 8, 2012 at 4:06 pm ·
Based on the information it has received, the US- NRC ( Nuclear regulatory commission) – according to their audio coverage posted on youtube- – had concluded already the day after the disaster on 311, that all three reactors must have suffered a complete meltdown. THe first japonese response team tried to reinstall electricity already hours after the incident , but all devices were likely destroyed by a overvoltage from the supply line form Onigawa , that had suffered 2 or 3 line phase shortcuts during the earthquake .However the reactors were completely inaccessable for any repair already hours after the icident on 311 -due to high readiation measured by mobile cars. Most real experts call the proposition, the reactors would be “cooled since then” just a “lie” systematic desinformation , and all the reactor fuel must have melted into the ground yet late o 311. What they desperately tried to install since 311 was a substitutional cooling system for the spent fuel storage pools. On March- 12, the NRC sent a team to Fukushima with the main intention at least to secure the spent fuel storage pools those would cook up after about 44 hors without cooling. on March 14 and 15, Mr Edano still wondered and discussed abuout the black ( fire) and white smoke ( steam) coming out from each of the 3 storage pools, as if a pope would be elected. On March 16 the NRC team returned to the USA due to ” misunderstanding “with the Japonese team, which obvioulsy still believed ( just like the Germans did) the best case” : that the reactors would “just” suffer after decay heat. If so the reactors would have cooled down days after the incident. Of course they did not. After such a cmplete meltdown, fountains and geysers would shoot up all around the reactors. Fukushima reactors are built within a huge plate of concrete and the reactors themlseves are likely below sea water level. Thus they obvioulsy could flood the basement, what did not stop the meltdown anymore but maybe kept the upper parts of the reactor vessels and the containments intakt, so much of the radiation and particles coming up from the groud are luckily dissolved in water since then. after the explosion of R 3 and NHK team tried to fly on Mar 156 near to the reactor but had to returnin 10 miles distance (!) due to thick foggy steam from the meltdown taking allsight What more prove does anyone need?
So- if reactor building 4 now sinks “unevenly” into the” ground” of a concrete basement that could withstand a 9.0 earthquake than someting else must have happened: Reactor tree ( driven wit MOX elements containing not only 3-5 % fissionable U 235 but also at least 6 % additional fissionable Pu 239 must have burned a hudge hole into the ground , where reactor bulding 4 now obviously could sink in or will even dissapear . They obvioulsy don`t know what to do or to decide as don`t even discuss about the option to close/ seal the underground holes with concrete (to pump in) . Maybe because this course might contaminate the ground water instead if radioactive materials dissolved in water could not surge up anymore. Japan has unlimited volcanic geothermal energy You just have to dig this boiling machines (lets say: the reactor cores without Uranium) some meter into the ground near one of the 140 volcanoes and you have electricity forever. Its the ” excitement of nuclear phenomenons/ roulette what once must have excited the japonese make the worse choice. NOW they have it forever. Was it SYSSIPHOS or rathert TANTALOS?
November 23, 2012 at 6:18 am ·
what kind of idiot wrote this. it is so full of non engineering text one wonders if he,she passed the 1st grade.
November 13, 2012 at 1:33 am ·
It doesn’t matter now when, why, or how these reactors melted down. All that matters is to keep the fuel storage pools from collapsing or draining. The whole world is going to be pissing Plutonium, Uranium, and Cesium if that happens. All the world’s leading nuclear engineers should be working on this problem. There should be an international effort to contain this poison before it liberates into the air and water of planet earth. That will doom future life on the surface. Perhaps that is why the elite are building vast underground facilities around the world. They’d just leave all the rest of mankind on the surface breathing death.
November 21, 2012 at 8:49 am ·
i feel safer they put up some tarps on it….
November 23, 2012 at 1:30 am ·
Building and operating nuclear reactors constitutes hubris and global insanity!
What society has lasted long enough to guarantee electricity and cooling water for reactors and spent fuel tods for a few thousand years,not to mention a safe place for nuclear waste storage?Incredibly in the State of Ga. In the U.S. a new reactor has been approved near Atlanta -population 5 million!
November 28, 2012 at 5:47 am ·
In response to: ASTRAELIA,
You are on drugs!
January 28, 2013 at 10:29 pm ·
The Japonese resüonse team published a note the day after 311 saying the overpressure valves “would not have opened und thus must been blocked”. Hours later, the reactor hall of R 1 exploded . The problem: reactor 1 – as built by General Electrivs back in the 70th, had no overpressure valves yet . Those valves were not prescribed at that time yet , but were later after the Harrisburg incident.Its not known whether then also elder reactors had to be equipped with those valves
The overpressure valves would at least delay the meltdon for 30 minutes(?) . enough to start any emergency cooling process ( if available) .
Also after Harrisburg the official investigation had no result. Inofficially its widely believed, that the crisis in Harrisburg was triggered by overpressure that formed in the reactors primary water cycle ( PWR= pressure water reactor) caused by fission products (radioactive noble gases).
Noble gases form out especially by the fission of Plutonum such as in MOX elements.
November 30, 2012 at 10:52 am ·
In response to HELMUT; More than anything, I find your commentary amusing and even a bit humorous. “fountains and geysers”?… Really? “Flooding the basement to stop the meltdown”??
“Reactor cores without Uranium”? You left out the Unicorns and Cyclops giants!
Are you possibly doing the same drugs as ASTRAELIA?
January 28, 2013 at 9:37 pm ·
“fountains a geyser”would shoot up from the parking lanes ( or from anwhere elsde near to the reactors) that was the answer from an expert, when asked after the Harrisburg incident what would have happened if the incident would have led t a total meltdown (30- 90 min after cooling has stopped)
I dont know how you understood this:
Flooding the basement to stop ( better: prevent) the meltdown”??
It is a question resp remained a secret what the operators did after the incident began.
In an interview Professor Michio Kaku now said, that same time after the incident had begun one employee then decided to flood the basement (inlcluding the reactor core) with sea water ,allthough that was not permitted by TEPCO:
However. if done so in a earlier state could have prevented the meltdown.
There was no electricity available anymore at that time for electric pumps doing that. . This is why o I suppose the basement and the reactor core ( resp at least, what is called supression pool below the reactor cores) is situated (intendenly built) below sealevel.
Nothing is known what could stop the nuclear reaction in such a melt. In Chernobyl the immidiately began to dug a large tunnel beneath the reactor core, Then tworkers had to distribute the melt out of graphit and uranium that came through onto a larger area what stopped the nuclear reaction ( lower critical mass) . Might be true or not- I don`t know…
January 28, 2013 at 10:49 pm ·
“Reactor cores without Uranium”?
Maybe, that I can`t express that all so perfectly in English. What I wanted to say is: Its the same principle; you heat up water , if you heat it up with volcanic heat instead ) you could even use the same devices (without the uranium) just digging the reactor core to a suitable near to a volcano. But Japan has already decided to built “windmills” instead
You left out the Unicorns and Cyclops giants!
Seen any GOZILLA yet?
Cyclops are not known in Japan but origin from greece myth.
Are you possibly doing the same drugs as ASTRAELIA?
December 5, 2012 at 3:46 am ·
This looks like an application for cellular concrete, a rigid foam made with cement and water. It can be mixed far from the reactor, then pumped and sprayed to create a pyramid around and through the building. As a civil engineer, we stabilized several oil storage tanks with this method and looking at the picture of the building, it just seems like the obvious first step. It would stabilize the structure, stop the differential settlement, and ensure it cannot collapse in an earthquake.
December 13, 2012 at 6:44 pm ·
It is nice to have a forum to show off all one knows, technically.
A prime observation, however, is who — who — has the wealth-clout to cause(d) the financing and building of radiation-poison-making machines on fault-lines, for which there is still no way to safely dispose of vast lethal millenia-lasting waste produced … now 70-plus years’ worth?
Those irrational, evil persons and their families, and all who assisted, need to be named, hunted down, and have all assets summarily confiscated, and be permanently separated from the human race.
Of course that would have to be done directly by the People, taking back the authority they gave in public trust to corrupted and ignorant government and industry employees.
Then we have to fix the mess. Like, that’s going to happen…. : ) I’m just saying….
December 14, 2012 at 3:33 am ·
Further to my last — after listening to Dr. Caldicott’s explanation of the entire nuclear energy situation, and the radioactive pollution which has already occurred, it appears most probable that nothing can be done to remedy the present situation, given the damage done and the ignorance and intransigence of the operating parties and interests So we might as well just try to enjoy what time we have left, being kind and helpful to one another during the coming period of extreme duress. Perhaps repentance and prayer by enough of us would help.
December 31, 2012 at 4:55 pm ·
It’s odd that this piece of baseless alarmist speculation is still running, after there has been so much evidence gathered to dismiss it. And zero evidence in support of it, once you get past the fuzzy-photo-juggling.
Tepco’s third quarterly inspection of the stability and strength of the Unit 4 building is here. The most easily-understood measurements are the ones that show directly that the building is level by measuring the pool water level to floor distance at all corners of the pool.
A reasonably current picture of Unit 4, showing the cleaned-up top, would be good. A photo from this year, not right up to date but not bad, is here. Persistently showing old photographs is misleading.
The radioactive material in the spent fuel rods is secure and not capable of spreading across the world under even unlikeliest scenario. It has been two years since these rods were in use. Stephen O’Neal, comment above, starts to talk about the cooled nature of the spent rods but doesn’t finish the job; there is no longer enough decay energy produced by the rods to reach any sort of dangerous temperature.
January 28, 2013 at 10:08 pm ·
@JOFFAN: (cited from this yahoo article) “A year and a half after the disaster, the pool’s cooling system has been fixed and reinforcements have been built. But TEPCO recently said the wall of the building is bulging, although the pool has not tilted.”
Due to this report, the building sank already more then 30 feet ” unevenly” into the ground . Maybe the tilt is just very low, so one cannot see it on these images ?
But- by the way (as you are the administrator of that site?) DOES ANYONE HAVE AN UPDATE ON THAT? This report is already 4 month old. What happened, what was done in the meantime?
January 31, 2013 at 10:22 pm ·
The building has not sunk 30 feet into the ground, or even the 31.5 inches mentioned above. Possibly this is a misunderstanding of the tectonic plate movement due to the earthquake.
The actual deviation of the walls from perfectly vertical was within the Japanese regulations for building a vertical wall.
March 12, 2013 at 6:33 am ·
They should build a strong and very thick reinforced dam around the structure and keep it filled with water. They also need to have pumps that pump ocean or fresh water into the dammed area and have it on generators that won’t fail in a power-outage. Even if the dam should break, if there is enough water being pumped into the reactor, it shouldn’t overheat and destroy the earth as we know it.
March 22, 2013 at 2:09 pm ·
Comments above about the subsidence of the ground by 31 inches appear to minimize the severity of the situation. Conversation: ground sank 30 feet. NO not even 30 inches, probably the earthquake was shaking the tape measure guy. Dont worry about it . It is vertical according to Japanese guidelines. Duh oh. Come on. Don’t dodge the question.
I too am curious just how is that subsidence now?
All I know is 100 percent of Blue fin Tuna tested positive for radiation. I am not eating buying any fish anymore, with rare exceptions. All the fish at the local grocery are labeled from China or Chile. I am in Kentucky, USA . Why is no fish marked product of USA? Seems very fishy to me.
March 22, 2013 at 2:23 pm ·
Tell me, if your front door subsided 30 inches, and you had to step up 30 inches, you would put a step ladder at your front door to get out of the house. Imagine that. Would you think that is a problem? No? You would not call your landlord and say. “I have a small problem, come see?” If you owned your house, you might think about selling it. I can see you now, trying to sell the house: Hey, this house was built to exacting vertical specifications, don’t worry about that first step just grab that overhead rope and come on in. Wouldn’t this be a great place for a BATPOLE? Great for the kids. Buy them some Batman costumes and you will be party central! You can install a slide for your groceries, or hey, your wife could just slide in the front door just toss the groceries up in the air and catch them when you hit the bottom. You know subsidence can be a GOOD thing.
March 24, 2013 at 10:36 pm ·
If those buildings are capable of sinking how does a skycraper stay up without sinking or toppling over!! Think about it!!
April 23, 2013 at 5:27 am ·
How about a series of steel poles pile driven into the ground around the #4 building, five metres out from the existing walls. The steel posts have large slots running down the sides. Concrete panels to cover the distance between each pole are manufactured off site with extra steel for work attached on one side. The completed panels are delivered and lowered into position, by sliding each one down the poles with the extra for work on the inside. Once in position all around the building, exotic boron/concrete mix is poured into the gap between the building and the first layer of tongue and groove matched panels, incorporating the interior formwork into the five metre (or whatever) thickness. As each section sets, another row of panels are dropped into place and the exotic mix concrete is poured to cover the new level of formwork to the top of the panel. Access tunnels, pipe and conduit entry points and doors could be incorporated if required. Any number of support legs could protrude from the lower sections to help support the building initially and flying buttresses could distribute and help spread stress across the vertical surfaces around the structure.
May 24, 2013 at 2:00 am ·
If you choose to build the plant beside the ocean..Why not construct it so every reactor and fuel rod storage pond , is below sea level, with, containment walls engineered to withstand a once in a thousand year event.
Have the backup generators and fuel storage, far and high enough away with earthquake resistant electrical connections…
In the event of an unprecedented disaster as occurred here,,Massive floodgates could be opened,or even blown up, to flood the reactors and spent fuel rods.
At Fukushima; they did the exact opposite…elevated the storage ponds and put the generators and fuel storage near sea level…
May 29, 2013 at 4:42 pm ·
For those interested in reality rather than dramatic fiction, Tepco completed the framework building for fuel removal handling from unit 4. The additional framework will effectively bring the spent fuel pool “indoors” and support a crane and the movement of spent fuel to ground level. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2013/images/handouts_130529_08-e.pdf
The operational phase is described in the document as “A work using ceiling crane will be started toward fuel removal soon after it is ready (scheduled in early June 2013).” This would be several months ahead of schedule.
Unit 4 building continues to be stable and level. People wilfully misinterpreting the movement of a whole tectonic plate as the movement of an individual building take note.
June 3, 2013 at 5:57 am ·
You seem to have educated me quite a bit, once in a while I check to see what is happening on that side of the world and in particular am interested in important world issues, are you working for the rehabilitation of the damage done and the people who own it?
June 4, 2013 at 12:29 am ·
I’m glad someone actually reads rather than merely reacting
Accurate information is often drowned out by articles like this one, which declare dangers without foundation and wrest attention away from real problems like the tsunami reconstruction.
The key damage is to the economy, local and national, by the knee-jerk policy shifts without proper risk evaluation, and to the people and communities that suffer under those destructive decisions. After Chernobyl it took 20 years before anyone would say that radiophobia was more of a problem than radiation, and here we are again, lesson not learned. Thankfully UNSCEAR just released a statement assessing the Fukushima public health impact from radiation as zero, so perhaps sanity can creep back on to the stage.