by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright April 12, 2011
All Rights Reserved.

              When Chernobyl rocked the planet April 16, 1986, Japan’s General Electric-built Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant was already 15-years-old.  While everyone knew about the area’s geologic risks, Tokyo Power Electric Company hadn’t considered the expected lifespan of the 3.5 square-kilometer, 860-acre plant, housing three light-water reactors, generating 4.7 Gwe [million watts] if electrical power, making the plant world’s 15th largest.  When the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami hit March 11, it seriously damaged the reactors in the GE units Nos. 1, 2 and 3, creating a series of hydrogen gas explosions causing more damage to the reactors’ protective shells.  While the Japanese government minimized the extent of the nuclear fallout, authorities have now upgraded the hazardous incident to at least equal to the radiation exposure, toxic fallout and environmental damage of Chernobyl.

            Workers at the plan and local inhabitants have been exposed for the last month to potentially lethal levels of radioactivity.  While aftershocks persist and rattle the nerves of local residents, the real danger stems from toxic radiation spewing from GE reactors Nos.1, 2 and 3.  Despite nuclear operators still working feverishly to cool down the reactors, Japanese officials ordered a12 mile safety radius to avoid toxic radioactive exposure.  “And now the government is officially telling us this accident is at the same levels as Chernobyl,:said restaurant owner Myuki Ichisawa, who recently shuttered her coffee shop in Litate Village.  “It’s very shocking to me,” realizing the extent of the hazardous exposure.  Japanese nuclear regulators raised the nuclear threat from 6 to 7, the same level at Chernobyl.  Russians authorities wasted little time building a radiation-proof protective sarcophagus.

            Instead of working feverishly to cap the Fukushima plant, TPEC tried to cool down the reactors with seawater, hoping to save the plant by repairing the damaged cooling system.  When it became clear the cooling system was irreparably damaged, the Japanese government should have moved swiftly to contain the partial meltdown and radiation leak by applying the boron, sand and concrete sarcophagus.  Right now, the situation of the nuclear reactors at the Fukushima plant has been stabilizing step by step.  The amount of radiation leaks is on the decline,” said Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan.  “But we are not at the stage yet where we can let our guard down,” not admitting that the partial meltdown and radiation leaks require urgent intervention to prevent more environmental damage.  Despite declaring the leak a dangerous level 7, Japanese officials don’t accept the Chernobyl comparison.

            Chernobyl exploded in 1986, leaving a dense radioactive plume over most of the Northern Hemisphere.  While radiation levels at Fukushima remain one-tenth of Chernobyl, it could deteriorate into the same kind of meltdown.  “Although the Fukushima accident is now at the equal level as Chernobyl, we should not consider the two incidents the same,” said Hiroshi Horika, refuting the idea of comparable radiation damage.  “Fukushima is not Chernobyl,” denying that it’s time for TPEC to throw in the towel and seal the reactors with a Chernobyl-like sarcophagus.  Japan seems content to blame the Fukushima disaster on the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami, rather than admit that the plant should have been replaced 20 years ago.  Japanese nuclear authorities reject the comparison to Chernobyl because there haven’t been explosions in the reactors’ cores, causing full meltdowns.

             Whether Fukushima is like Chernobyl or not, the Japanese nuclear regulatory agency failed to seriously upgrade or replace the aging reactors demanded by General Electric.  Given the geologic uncertainty in the area, running reactors some 20 years beyond their lifespans put the community and region in jeopardy.  “We have refrained from making announcements until we have reliable data,: said Hidehiko Nishyama, spokesman for Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.  While there’s less radiation released into the atmosphere than Chernobyl, 500,000 terabecquerels of Iodine-131 has already gone into Japan’s atmosphere.  Hundreds-of-thousands of gallons of radioactive water have also been released into the ocean near the Fukushima plant.  Since the earthquake and tsunami hit March 11, over 25,000 Japanese civilians are dead or reported missing.

            Japan’s leaders want the country to go back to business as usual.  But Japan must accept some responsibility for failing to upgrade or replace Fukushima’s aging nuclear reactors.  More modern units would have better protective shells or containment vesicles to reduce the environmental exposure.  “Let’s live normally without falling into excessive self-restraint,” said Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan.  “We should eat and drink products from the quake-hit areas as a form of support,” ignoring the health risk of eating and drinking contaminated food and water.  With more that 14,500 still missing from the quake and tsunami, it’s not too reassuring for the prime minister to encourage survivors to eat contaminated food and water.  There’s nothing patriotic or “normalizing” about exposing more Japanese citizens to the potentially harmful effects of radiation on the food and water supply.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

©1999-2012 Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.
(310) 204-8300
All Rights Reserved.