May 19: Japan Nuclear Disaster UpdateMay 19th, 2011 › High Risk Energy, Nuclear › Guest Post ›
Nearly two and a half months after the earthquake and tsunami that rocked Japan, the ongoing nuclear disaster in that country is slowly disappearing from the media. Meanwhile, Tokyo Power and Electric Company (Tepco) is calling in all favors to help pay for this disaster, including tapping the government, private banks and shareholders. The cost is currently estimated at around $30 billion, but final costs will not be known until the situation is fully stabilized. Tepco has finally admitted that fuel in Unit 1 is completely exposed and that Units 1, 2, and 3 have, in fact, suffered meltdowns, which most likely occurred immediately after the earthquake. Previously, Tepco only admitted partial meltdowns, and cited the tsunami as the cause. New evidence suggests that the cooling system failure which caused the meltdowns actually began as a result of damage caused by the earthquake. Furthermore, a hole in Unit 1 is making cooling more difficult, and is causing millions of gallons of highly radioactive water to leak into the sea.
In the United States, EPA has halted extra radiation monitoring, and has shifted their focus to seafood. They have also stopped monitoring at the Fukushima site, claiming that the situation is now stabilized and that radiation levels have peaked. In Japan, however, new information continues to surface, calling ever more attention to the country’s ineffective regulatory environment. The New York Times reports that Japanese officials have repeatedly disregarded and even concealed the dangers presented by fault lines, including a decade-old warning that predicted the exact scenario that caused the Fukushima disaster. Public outcry has led to multiple court cases challenging the safety of reactors. However, “judges are less likely to invite criticism by siding and erring with the government than by sympathizing and erring with a small group of experts,” says former circuit judge Kenichi Ido.
Increased scrutiny over the safety of nuclear reactors in the United States continues. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) says that they found no safety issues in their initial assessment 30 days into their 90-day review. This comes as a surprise to many, as nuclear experts have testified to Congress that our reactors are not fail safe and our rules for regulating are not sufficient. “I think if you’re listening carefully they’re telling two different stories,” said Ed Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists. “On the one hand, they say we don’t need to take any immediate action. On the other hand, their inspections have turned up problems with compliance on the measures that are supposed to be in place to deal with severe accidents. It doesn’t sound like the picture is quite as rosy...”
SNIP
...If there is anything positive to come out of this disaster, it is the increased international desire to switch to truly clean and safe renewable energy sources. Japan and Germany have both declared that they will cease pursuing new nuclear and instead focus on efficiency and renewable energy. The Guardian asks, if the 3rd (Japan) and 4th (Germany) largest economies in the world can reduce carbon and keep the lights on without new nuclear, why can’t the 6th (the United States)? Germany’s announcement came weeks ago, as they promised not to pursue new nuclear and to close all existing reactors by 2020. Japan followed suit this week, saying that they will scrap plans for new nuclear and instead meet their energy needs with renewable energy.
This announcement coincides with a new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that finds that renewable energy sources can feasibly generate 80 percent of the world’s energy in 40 years...
http://blog.cleanenergy.org/2011/05/19/may-19-japan-nuclear-disaster-update/
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