The Fukushima Disaster

 

 

"If we just ignore it, will it go away?"

In a different time, under different political conditions, the story of the disaster at Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Plant would be front page news each day, every day for a very long time. Today however, it is yet another victim of the "blizzard" of news coming out of Washington and the Middle East. This is too bad, because the consequences of what happened in March 11, 2011 could effect the much of the northern hemisphere for many years to come.

First a bit of history. The Fukushima Nuclear Plant operates on the east coast of the Japan. It is an older technology facility, built by (General Electric) and operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Company. Despite its age, it still met the safety standards established by the government of Japan. On March 11, 2011, a massive earthquake with the strength of magnitude 9.0 hit off the north east coast of Japan. This resulted in a killer tsunami which came ashore and killed almost 19,000 people. In addition, it caused significant damage to the Fukushima three operating nuclear reactors.

As bad as this was, it could have been worse. The plant has six boiling water reactors. At the time of the earthquake, one of the reactors had been de-fueled and two others were down for planned maintenance. The other three however, sustained critical damage and initial efforts to "cool down" prior to shut down were unsuccessful. For a while, it looked like there might be a "melt down" in one or more of the damaged reactors.

After the situation had somewhat stabilized, the government of Japan went into full blown damage control with the world press. Some of the bad news was glossed over or not reported at all. The "close call" after the earthquake was not so close after all - it was more like a direct hit. When the world feared a Chernobyl like disaster, instead it is turning out to be a slow motion disaster which could end up being much, much worse. The "spin machine" of the Japanese Government is no longer working, and the truth is starting to leak out.

It is not just the truth which is leaking out, but also the contaminated water located below ground in holding tanks. The water is leaking and heading for the Pacific Ocean. The Tokyo Electric Power Company disclosed last month that the measurements of radioactive tritium in nearby seawater is the highest ever recorded. In fact, it is 18 times higher than what was expected.

This poison is going to continue to seep into the ocean unless we can find a way to stop and contain it. It will poison the water and the fish that live in the water. It will poison the people who eat the fish. With the way the ocean currents are, much of this poison is on the way to North and South America. This could end up being one of the largest, if not the largest environmental disasters of all time.

This is a story for all of us to keep an eye on. Like I said earlier, it is not getting much press right now. It is a big story, and a big problem for all of us.