SOTT > SOTT News Discussion

The Top Short-Term Threat to Humanity: The Fuel Pools of Fukushima

(1/2) > >>

Foxx:
This article on SOTT got me re-thinking about what might happen if Fukushima becomes a giant inferno of nuclear waste, which seems to me to be an extremely possible situation.

Given that the article is citing Anti-nuclear physician Dr. Helen Caldicott as saying that she will relocate from Boston (east coast US) to the southern hemisphere, but also what the Cs have said about the Fukushima radiation release thus far:


--- Quote from: Cassiopaeans 9-Apr-2011 ---(L) Next question on the list: Is the fukushima radiation negligible compared to the radiation due to 2,000 + nuclear explosions that have happened since 1945?

A: Yes.

Q: (L) How badly will it affect people?

A:  Cumulatively, it is already bad.

Q: (L) you mean cumulatively the 2,000 nuclear explosions?  And now, this on top of all of that is like critical mass of exposure?

A: Yes.

Q: (L) So, what does that mean for us.

A: DNA changes and diet help to keep the frequency stable.

Q: (L) What about all the people who are vegetarians?

A: They are nuclear “toast” since so much of their energy must be expended to raise the vibrations of their food.

--- End quote ---

I'm wondering if, especially considering paleo diet changes, others thought that a relocation for people even as far as the East Coast USA would be wise to avoid negative health consequences.  Certainly it depends on location, jet stream movements, etc as to how bad fall out would be and certainly I think that people living in Japan would be wise to depart if the power plant loses its remaining stability, I just wonder what take others here have as I'm not sure that moving from Boston to the southern hemisphere is going overboard or if it'll really be that bad. 

Solaris:
I was having some difficulty understanding the science behind this article. I thought the nuclear process had been halted and that was the end to it. Now i'm understanding that there are spent fuel rods in a pool that seem to pose a greater threat than the reactor in the first place?

venusian:

--- Quote from: Solaris on April 08, 2012, 05:21:52 PM ---I was having some difficulty understanding the science behind this article. I thought the nuclear process had been halted and that was the end to it. Now i'm understanding that there are spent fuel rods in a pool that seem to pose a greater threat than the reactor in the first place?

--- End quote ---

It is difficult to navigate the science involved because so much data is obscured and not reported by the nuclear industry and the agencies responsible for regulating nuclear power. The same has been true for all the nuclear weapons testing over the past 60 years. They would have us believe that everything is safely under control and dangers are limited.

All nuclear power plants in operation for a number of years have accumulated varying amounts of 'spent fuel' which no longer has the sufficient amount of reactivity to use as fuel, but nevertheless still has a high degree of radioactivity and is extremely toxic and dangerous. The amount of spent fuel is great because it has accumulated over the life-span of the plant- in some cases for 20 or 30 years. It is very expensive to dispose of properly so most of it is simply stored on-site at each plant and kept under water to keep it contained and cooled enough to prevent it from catching fire or exploding- and then being released into the environment. To do this requires uninterrupted electrical power to keep pumps circulating cold water through these pools. And the structural integrity of the pools themselves needs to be maintained as well.

So even though the nuclear plant itself is 'shut down' and the reactors are not in operation, this spent fuel is still sitting in pools on the site and must be kept cool for many, many years.

One of the hazards at Fukushima is that the cooling pool containing spent fuel rods in reactor building number 4 sits 100' above ground level in a building which has been severely damaged. The spent fuel cannot be removed from the pool because it must remain underwater at all times, and the equipment for moving it has been destroyed. So it is a precarious situation. The pool is at high risk of failure should another strong earthquake occur. The situation at Fukushima has never happened before, and will require a great deal of money and engineering accomplishment to resolve safely. Unfortunately the evidence seems to indicate those responsible for the plant have been making decisions based on saving money rather than on behalf of peoples' safety.

Solaris:
Thanks for the clarification, worrying indeed. It's saddening to think that a country already scarred by nuclear disaster is sitting so precariously on  the verge of another.

katesisco:
Fuel pools are exactly that--dangerous --- and likely to be for millennial time.  Which is why you see UTube discussions of understanding deuterium.  There is a world wide push to find some way to convert this deadly menace.  The idea was that we were on the verge of knowing it all--hubris--and expected to segue from this radioactive fuel source to one not radioactive.  Didn't happen.  Now I wonder if our remnants of radioactivity is not from previous fuel source or even the heart of every scary story in our past ---nuclear war, but some kind of change in solar system weather that causes the sun to start to put out strange particles (whatever happened to that story---it didn't continue and I can't find anything about strange solar particles now) due to compression and when the compression lifts, our Van Allen belts and the neutrinos that have collected above collapse down onto the surface of the planet, initiating a radioactive runaway. 

Before that happens I imagine that like Russia did, the countries whose shorelines are dotted with nuclear will simple load the rods onto a ship, drive it out to deep water and sink it.  What would you have done?

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page