Fukushima 'still a ticking time bomb'Famed physicist Michio Kaku says Japanese officials still don't have control of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. CLICK HERE to read our fascinating OFF SET interview with Kaku, exclusive to the "In The Arena" blog! And here's a sample of Kaku's previous appearances on our show. |
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This piece is full of bias and sensationalism; CNN should be embarrassed.
* "Ticking timebomb" implies explosion, etc. I'm not sure how Fukushima could possibly get to that point.
* All of the reactors were shut down within hours of the earthquake, but you have to know what "shut down" means. Control rods were inserted and the reaction was terminated.
* "Keystone cops". Really?
* Comparing the Fukushima workers to the Chernobyl emergency workers who suffered and died from acute radiation is bogus.
* "They haven't stopped the reaction..." Again, wrong. Kaku should have corrected you, but it would have taken away from the sensationalism.
* Dump into the ocean? No discussion of progress. No discussion of the current start-up of filtration systems (this is a really big deal if they can get these going)? No discussion of the fact that workers have now begun to enter some of the reactor buildings to begin work?
"Ticking time bomb" is correct. If the melted cores do fully breach their containment vessels by literally burning their way through the bottoms of the containment vessels, then you can instantly have a situation where tons of molten core material hits the huge volume of water pooled in the bottoms of the reactor buildings. The resulting explosion would obliterate what is left of the buildings and blow off the tops of the primary containment. It may be only a matter of time before this actually happens, and this is the reason why Kaku recommends the Chernobyl option of burying the cores with tons of boron, sand and concrete.
No, the reactors did not shut down immediately after the control rods were inserted. Inserting the control rods merely begins the weeks long process of eventually achieving cold shutdown. You need to do some research about nuclear reactors.
It is factually correct that the nuclear reactions have NOT been stopped. This is why far more radiation than was "expected" is showing up in the water filtration system which keeps breaking down. In fact, it may be impossible to completely stop the nuclear reactions now that the cores have fully melted down into giant masses of molten slag since it is now impossible to moderate the nuclear reactions occurring at the center of the giant masses of molten core material.
Kaku is correct in his assessment that the only practical resolution for all four reactors is to bury them by using the same methods which the Russians used at Chernobyl. Regardless, radiation will leak from Fukushima's reactors into the surrounding environment for the next 200,000 years. That is the one inevitable outcome for Fukushima Daiichi.
See http://www.rense.com. All three reactors have melted down, one is melting through the containment vessel. You won't find this here on a censored news site like CNN.
The only failure from CNN to not fact check and dispute the OPINIONS from this pundit. I would like for CNN to do some ACTUAL REPORTING instead of relying and believing on pundits like all the other 24 news network do.
As for Dr. Kaku claims, if you take the time to do some independent fact check (just google "fukushima meltdown") you might reach his conclusions:
- "Ticking timebomb": there are indications of ongoing uncontrolled reactions in the melted cores (presence of I-131), also the cores have breached containment (pressure dropped in all containment vessels) and will keep melting down until they hit the water table causing a massive steam explosion.
- He didn't say just shutdown, he clearly said "cold shutdown" several times.
- He compares to workers in Chernobyl because the radioactive levels inside the buildings are so high it they can only enter them for few minutes at a time.
- They haven't stopped the reaction, see my first point. Continuous or raising levels of I-131 indicates there are uncontrolled nuclear reactions going in the melted cores.
- They already dumped lots of radioactive water to the ocean, there are also leaks in the containment buildings that keeps leaking highly radioactive water.
We now know they blatantly lied to us: They told us the 3 reactors were successfully shut down. 2 months later they told us, "oops, they actually... uh... melted down"
Hey Majia....
I don't know where you live and really don't care.... take your cheap a** and get a good Geiger counter. Oh and while your at it, make sure your affairs are in order. Because this time next year we all will be sick, and the Fukashima crowd will be pushing daisies.
Hi Michael I'm glad you responded to my comment because it provides proof my comment was posted before being taken down by some sort of censor.
I'm reposting. Let us see how long it is up this time.
First of all, it is not at all clear that workers at Fukushima have not died. Read the article: Contract workers registered with TEPCO have mysteriously disappeared from the contractor’s employment records. Mainichi: "Whereabouts of 30 nuclear power plant subcontractors unknown: Health Ministry"
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110621p2a00m0na005000c.html
Second, there is considerable evidence of ongoing fission at the Fukushima plant reactors given the ongoing production of Iodine-131, which has a 8 day half life. See Gunderson’s Fairewinds updates http://www.fairewinds.com/ and Washington’s blog for an essay with citations on ongoing criticality http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2011/06/are-nuclear-reactions-still-occuring-at.html
Third, spent-fuel pool #4 is an ongoing cataclysmic disaster. Building #4 was damaged by #3’s explosion and the spent fuel pool in #4’s attic was reported by the NYT to be cracked. This pool is full of rods and is leaking water and was recently found to be 2/3 empty, meaning there was a high likelihood that the fuel rods were exposed. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20_03.html
Fourth, de-contamination of the radioactive water has not gone well and has had to be stopped over and over because of various problems
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/17_05.html
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/18_18.html
Fifth, radiation releases continue to be very large
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/affairs/news/110619/dst11061921080017-n1.htm
“Estimates of the radioactive materials emitted double doors opening to the Fukushima No. 2 unit building $ 1.8 billion becquerels”
DISREGARD INDUSTRY TROLLS AND DEMAND TRUTH, TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY
And you are from what planet?
Agent provocateur FOOL you are......FukUshima = 50,000 Chernobyls.....Chernobyl killed 1 million, i suggest you do the math. May the blood of the dead children – morituri te salutant – haunt you and your lies, to the grave. YOU will join the rest of the World in radiation exposure. What a stupid evil person you are ...............stupid. Please go back to shopping or watching Amerikan Idol or something. Drunk drunk with demonic delusions & possession. Sayonara!
ps watch Akira Kurosawa's "Mt Fuji in Red".........
Physicist? Sure. Engineer? Kaku should stick to talking about stars, or string theory, or whatever esoteric subject his he considers his specialty . He ought not pretend that his PhD extends him the right to comment on subjects way out of his expertise. I cheapens both him and his field.
Pity this is the best CNN could do.
Well, engineeres didn't mentioned anything about isomeric ratios of emited radionuclides.
Scientists did, at least during Chernobyl disaster.
Feel free to find, what those ratios means to the whole image of the events – now and then.
I disagree with the poster cbonn, above, for the following reasons:
1. We have witnessed a tragic episode at Fukushima, we need a more thorough and critical analysis of the events that tok place there.
2. The phrase 'ticking timebomb' is used correctly in in its literary and journalistic sense as a problem whose time will become due (we similarly refer to certain mortgages as 'ticking timebombs').
3. There is no clear evidence that the reactors shut down fully and properly. In fact, there is a lack of knowledge of the state inside the pressure vessels.
4. Obviously the reactions have not been 'stopped'.
5. Clearly untreated nuclear waste was dumped into the ocean – no controversy there.
I disagree with the article as follows:
1. The site is above water (a high water table) and near an active coastline - simply burying it will not work for the ammout of time that is required. In fact, if hot nuclear materials hit the water for any reason a steam explosion is likely.
We have not only seen a series of horrific events at Fukushima, we have seen corporate communications fro TEPCO (and others) that the U.S. State Department has characterized as 'inaccurate and unreliable'. Now is the time for a more critical assessment of what has happened and what continues to happen at Fukushima.
Michio Kaku is great and very credible - would like to see more of him. He brings an alternative viewpoint that is well thought out and brings an important perspective to these events. His contribution will be an important part of the journalistic record related to Fukushima...
I give Mr. Kaku a lot of credit for making a continued effort to speak openly about the situation in Fukushima. What does it take to see, really. What does it take? I cannot believe there are people on here who expect to be taken as representing a real viewpoint and are still, in the face of THREE core meltdowns, containment pools blown into the upper atmosphere, etc persisting with the fallacy that because no one DIED this month everything will be ok.
It is nothing short of insanity to persist with this debate over the merits of nuclear fission used in applications like this. nuclear fission as practiced today is an antiquated technology, dangerous beyond measure, as in LITERALLY beyond measure. Some of the components of radioactive waste have a half life of 200,000 years, some 700,000 years, some more that that. Far longer than any administration in the history of our good country, that's how long. It is remarkable to me that the rabid right wing tea partiers etc are always whining about the country swinging left. The truth is it is money and power. If we trun our attanetion of it; smoodfedswskjjwejjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjl wjk
A pound of plutonium could kill every human being on the planet. And yet we continue to allow ourselves to be drawn into arguments with self serving profiteers, people and corporations with no fealty to the US or to life in general, but rather to profit at any cost.
This highly organized miliitant faction of the US government in concert with the multi national energy cartel is working hard to have us believe this is actually a rational and reasonable alternative to aggressively reducing our current demand (like in Las Vegas counties for ex) combined with a solid commitment to alternative energy development. It's nuts. There really is no good reason to continue. All plants should be immediatly shut down and decommssioned.
The nuke plants shouid be scrapped. Immediatley.
SCRAPPED
Finally someone with intelligence speaks up! How much radioactive pollution must we spew before nuke reactors are ALL shut down for once and for all?
He's full of it!!! Your all doomed but don't know it yet..... don't believe me... get a Geiger counter and a radiation chart and go figure it for yourselves.....
You should have known they were lying to begin with, if you didn't you have slept too long, go back to sleep now, until armageddon.
Too late baby ...it's too late......thou we really did try to make it ....something has died...........it's too late!
FukUshima = 50,000 Chernoblys – at least
I'm not sying that Dr Kaku is an expert on this subject but there is plenty of info out on the internet from physicists who are experts and the story is BAD!
On a similar subject, it has now been revealed that over half of U.S. nuclear power plants have been releasing radioactive Tritium into the water supply or over 50 years.
Why should we be supprised? Automakers have been making automobiles for over 70 years and they can't keep the engine oil off of your garage floor!
why would anyone, much less those nuclear geniuses, build a nuclear reactor on a fault line, or on 4 converging fault lines?
Why would they build one along the missouri river, or any place where there is a possibility of flooding. Why would they build one in a highly populated area (chernobyl) At the turn of the century, Tesla proved (and recently M.I.T.) that electrical power can be transmitted wirelessly..to any spot on the globe. So here is an idea: put the nuclear reactors in a remote desert location that is geologically stable, and away from the coastline (deep underground in nevada for example). Transmit this power wirelessly to substations (where all of the current power plants are) where it can be returned to 60hz ac, transmitted through the conventional electrical grid system. So instead of hundreds of nuke plants all over the world, they would be centralized within a 100 square mile area, away from populations, away from aquifers, away from siezmic zones, away from tsunami and flood areas. Lets do this now before this earth is a radioactive desolate wasteland.
Built on a fault line, loads of them are all round the world, its like they are just waiting to go up. Depopulation springs to mind. The elite nice and tucked up in their bunkers with the saved seeds in svarlbad, ready to re-emerge once the plebs have gone. Its the only explanation I can come up with. Its the only reason to build the most dangerous generators on earth on dangerous ground. The New Mardid Faualt zone is also smothered in them and guess what, they are in very real danger of flooding and breakdown at the moment. All happening all at once.
We measure industrial disaster in dollar.
this could destroy our PLANET whoever does not think so needs to get an education and some common sense!!! this is scary for everyone! it is showing up IN EVERY COUNTRY in the MILK!! NO ONE IS SAFE GET a grip on REALITY!!! EVERYONE!!! MAKE YOUR GOVERNMENT DO SOMETHING they should be cleaning it up... not US!!
Fukushima is being described as worse than Chernobyl. Go to http://www.rense.com to see archived stories from various mainstream sources from around the world, for the truth on this disaster. There were 3 meltdowns in the reactors, and one is melting through the protective concrete below the reactor. The radiation went around the world already, and is affecting all crops around the world.
==> Anyone who buys into Kaku's Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) is really thinking, "My fear is more important than the facts," a fear based on "what ifs," and it *blinds* a person to steps that would address real and present dangers. Better to transform FUD into Facts, Understanding, and Development.
CNN seems to be in love with Kaku's anti-nuclear innuendo, bias, and fear-mongering. Kaku's doctorate does NOT make him an authority on nuclear physics and radiation hazards (and practically everything else scientific). CNN is shamelessly reaching for maximum sensationalism. Ratings must spike when Kuku (er, Kaku) appears on the news. Kaku is nothing more than an extremely smooth con artist. Please UNinvite him for all future broadcasts.
Kaku knows nothing about reactors that will "burn" spent nuclear fuel, nothing about reactors that utilize thorium, and apparently nothing about China's nuclear energy program. Please interview an expert on Fast Spectrum Molten Salt Reactors (Charles W. Forsberg - Oak Ridge National Laboratory). Please interview an expert on Thorium Fuel Molten Salt Reactors (Kirk Sorensen - Flibe Energy). Please investigate and report on the Chinese Academy of Sciences' new program to develop thorium fuel molten salt reactors.
China has enthusiastically embraced nuclear power to replace their coal-fired power plants as fast as possilbe. They have 13 nuclear plants in operation, another 4 under construction right now (Westinghouse AP-1000's), and contracts for another 21 (also AP-1000's) to be built in the next 5 years or so. Chinese reactors go from dirt to grid in three years (vs. NEVER for the U.S.)
For anyone who needs fact-based reality reporting on Fukushima please follow this link ...
[...] http://www.world-nuclear-news.org [...]
Envidio tu capacidad para publicar maravilloso artículo sobre inthearena.blogs.cnn.com simplemente quería decir que me gusta esto!
Estoy impresionado! Blog muy informativo mensaje el # nombre de mi amigo. Sólo quería comentar y decir mantener la calidad del trabajo.
Eso fue hace cosas interesantes aquí en inthearena.blogs.cnn.com Gracias por publicar la misma.
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