Could someone provide or point me toward

[pscot]

a succinct factual sammary of what's known about the current state of the fukushima reactors? There are some truely alarming stories circulating here and elsewhere. People are choosing up sides and trying to score points. Ignorance and stupidity abound. I want a clear, jargon free assessment of what's going on, and what the plan is, if there is one.

[RandomThoughts]

1. That has been posted.

Plan, establish moving towards better justice and compassion, by moving out of worse then anarchy two tier reverse justice and deception.

That will be achieved, in part, when the beer and travel money is sent, that is due. And when the world moves to better forms of justice and compassion.

The exact methods have a few paths, and that is do to free will, and choice, but things will move to more justice and compassion, not control over people by deception and fear.


And the beer and travel money, that is due will be sent.

[CarmanK]

2. While you are at it, How about the Level 4 warning in Nebraska??

It appears the Nuclear power plant along the Missouri river has had numerous problems with the flooding and is at a Level 4 emergency warning. What does that mean to us, here??

[bananas]

7. ...

Read this, then remember that New Orleans was destroyed because the levees weren't properly maintained - the levees were supposed to hold even with a hurricane Katrina.
http://www.thebulletin.org/web-edition/columnists/dawn-stover/rising-water-falling-journalism

[bananas]

3. Arnie Gundersen is probably the best, and enenews for news updates

http://fairewinds.com/
http://enenews.com/

[bananas]

4. Here's a succinct and factual summary from someone on dailykos

I posted it in the EE forum: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x299209

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/06/12/984508/-Fukushima-Status-UpdateAn-Apology

Sun Jun 12, 2011 at 01:28 PM PDT
Fukushima Status Update - An Apology

by kbman
permalink 60 Comments

Hi folks. I wish to extend a heartfelt apology to the community for helping to perpetuate misinformation provided by TEPCO, the Japanese government, and various regulatory agencies. I had believed that the lessons learned from previous nuclear incidents would be enough to inspire them to be candid and forthcoming regarding the known status of the reactors, their containment systems, and the releases to the environment. I was wrong. It is now clear that there was, and remains, a significant effort at managing information and limiting the ability of outside observers to accurately analyze conditions resulting from the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. The updates I provided in March and early April were based on grossly inaccurate reports and unreliable data.

It is still quite a frustrating situation, trying to get accurate and timely information from TEPCO. For example, as FishOutofWater has repeatedly complained, they are not releasing measurements of a variety of very short-lived isotopes which could quickly answer the question of whether there is any ongoing criticality at the site. There are suspiciously fluctuating levels of Iodine-131 but that alone is not conclusive evidence.

And while it does appear that they are making progress in getting into crucial areas for observation and evaluation, there is much that remains unknown regarding how much fuel is where and in what form. How much remains in the reactor vessels? How much in the drywells? Is any fuel currently molten? If so, where is it, inside or outside the vessels? Regardless of where the fuel may be or the solid/liquid status of any portion, it all must continue to be cooled just as the spent fuel needs to continue to be cooled. And until they know where all the fuel is located it is not possible for them to know whether it is all being sufficiently cooled.

Given the seasonal nature of my work and the need to "make hay while the sun shines" I do not have the time available to do the kind of research needed to stay current with this topic. I very much appreciate the work FOoW has done in keeping up with important developments. There have also been others such as HoundDog who have stayed with this story and made good contributions here. I also wish that nathguy had not been such an ass in how he chose to present information and editorialize. As much as I disliked his personal attacks and nastiness, there were some key issues on which he had it right - the shaky status of the unit 4 spent fuel pool and the ultimate truth regarding the full meltdowns. While I don't disagree with his banishment in the least, I do feel that some of his contributions on this topic were useful.

<snip>

I don't read dailykos regularly, so I really don't know who kbman or the others are. But it was nice to see this.

[pscot]

6. That's the best information I've seen. Thanks

The comment thread over there provided a useful gloss to the diary, as it often does. There's been so much hysteria, mis-information and propaganda, both pro- and anti-nuke, that it's been almost impossible to get a handle on what's been happening. The reality gets buried under multiple layers of bias and fear mongering and industry secretivness.

[DeSwiss]

5. "Fukushima is the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind." - Arnold Gundersen

That's Arnie' short summary for you.

Here's mine. Well, let's see..... we've got 3 reactors in either meltdown (melted through the reactor's containment chamber) or melt-through (melted through the floor of the reactor building and into the ground) stage and four spent nuclear fuel rod pools which are generating and spewing out radiation due to the lack of a cooling system. These spent fuel rod pools represent decades of accumulated spent fuel rods since no one's ever figured out what to do with them and since no one wants that shit around them. Ever. (does Yucca Mountain ring a bell?) That is the equivalent of 20 melt-throughs/meltdowns going-on at the same time. And as Arnie said, we are in virgin territory here because the science for this kind of thing happening all at once has never been considered before. They never thought it would happen, see? Or at least they crossed their fingers and hoped it wouldn't.

So in an attempt cool the fuel, water is being poured on these meltdowns and spent fuel pools and in the process generating tons of radioactive water - some of which is going into the basements of the reactor buildings and later on into the sea, with the rest going directly into the groundwater (most likely due to melt-throughs). The little they have captured they're putting into a huge storage tank to be later "neutralized." However, that is problematic since no one can get close enough to the water to do much to clean it up right now. The Japanese government has admitted that at least 4 workers have received exposures that will likely kill them shortly. And reports of up to 23 more workers with excessive exposures have been rumored. In the end, as with those who died at Chernobyl, many will most likely die at Fukushima trying to fix this mess. This is a tragedy that began on March 11th and is still on-going. Millions will be affected by this all around the world.

So as a result, the radioactive water is spreading far and wide and when they cool it with the water steam shoots up into the air spreading radioactive particles literally around the world - but mostly there in Northern Japan. Radioactive Minke whales and fish have been caught in the Sea of Japan. Radioactive tea and vegetables are being quarantined and every country except Canada now refuses to allow Japanese food to be imported into their country. Sludge from sewerage and storm drains is being found in areas 300KM and further outside the so-called "exclusion zone."

Hot particles (particularly cancer-causing strontium and cesium and iodine isotopes) are being found in the car air filters in Tokyo which means they're likely being breathed into the lungs of the people living there. The topsoil has been removed from the playgrounds of several schools in a weak attempt at capturing all the radioactivity that is constantly being spewed from Fukushima as we speak. And schools are having to test the lunches that their kids eat for radioactivity along with being given radioactivity badges to monitor the children as well. Children are particularly susceptible to cancers caused by these radioactive isotopes, as well as pregnant women and their fetuses.

In essence, the entire northern region of Japan is likely to be rendered uninhabitable and everyone in the scientific community knows this but won't say a damned thing because the US government would make certain they never work in their field of endeavor again. That's one reason that Arnie Gunderen has been a life-saver for us. For the world. He's one of the few telling the truth right now - and being listened to by some of the more independent media types. And you'll always know when Arnie's hitting the nails on the heads because his detractors (i.e. - nuclear energy supporters/sycophants) always target him personally rather than argue the technical data issues, because they know he's telling the truth and they also know that the gig is up. They've been exposed for the immoral bastard-poisoners of the world that they are. (at least that's my view).

This is the horror that has been on the nuclear horizon from the beginning and now here it is. And here we are.

And the reason that you're in need of a summary about all this is because the media in this country -- is almost totally controlled and owned by the same powers that be who own and control the nuclear reactors. And in the end, "our" government who have been apparently told to put a lid on this story. Otherwise it would all over the nightly news. But in our fucked-up government of today what TPTB want is what TPTB get. Forget about our "elected leaders" because they take they orders from -- the rich mofo's running this shit -- instead of giving damn about the people they've sworn to represent. As a result, much of the factual information is coming from citizens and independent professionals in the field who give a damn abut people dying. Welcome to the Brave New World.

I realize that for years we've grown used to depending upon staid, professional and easily accessible US media sources to deliver the news but those days are over. Gone. Fini. You're going to have to learn to dig for the truth yourself. Having the facts helps, so start there. If something doesn't pass the smell test, then you're probably right. In the end it's better this way. No one should depend upon others for such vital information about their lives. And especially not the tainted press we have now. And that includes non-professional people like me. I've searched and dug and taught myself about this because I realize its true importance. And because that's just me.

But know this: Nuclear generated energy is a stupid idea. It always was a stupid idea, and it always will be a stupid idea. Why? Mainly because there's no place to put the damned spent shit once it's useless for generating enough heat to boil the water that runs the turbines. When you think about it, it is archaic and as old-fashioned as Robert Fulton's steam engine boat. We're still using the same technology he used, just a different and more dangerous fuel. And that stupidity is why spent fuel radioactivity is now spewing this radioactive crap all over the world right now. That's why it's a stupid idea (at lest in my view). And remember, we have a shitload more than the Japanese have, of the same old-ass radioactive reactor systems and spent fuel pool crap, right here at home.

- I hope this answers any questions you might have had......