Fukushima Falling ApartThis article details new disclosures from Japan's traditionally closed society on Fukushima. Cracks have formed in reactors #1-3 per the latest NISA report. New admissions of isotopes are hinted at. A number of sources are given showing that the Japanese people are waking up. by Rubicon Decision and Lucas Whitefield Hixson
The following was submitted to PESN on April 12 Fukushima Falling ApartApril 12 ( April 13 6:16 am in Japan ) Almost thirty years ago, when I worked in an industrial setting, I came across my first pop off valve. We’d had a call that steam was escaping in an area, and were dispatched to go inspect it. My mentor explained that pop off valves were installed in the system for times when the steam pressure had exceeded the setting, and then it released the pressure in order not to cause damage.
It was an interesting concept, one that has carried over into my own
life: a visible analogy of the pressure we carry inside us all the time;
the good that comes from releasing that pressure; the danger of not
releasing pressure when it exceeds our ability to cope. I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind everyone that the disaster didn’t just happen at Fukushima. Although the brunt of the radiation occurred within the 30 km radius, clearly the entire country of Japan is reeling from the economic, political, social, and public health effects of the upheaval. The earthquake / tsunami destroyed whole villages like Onagawa. Many untold numbers of the dead are from other prefectures along the eastern coast of Japan. It may by three or more months before we have a better idea of the impact and the human cost. Initially the stoic Japanese were quite reticent to explain their own inner perceptions of the tragedy. “Shigata ga nai.” is an oft-used phrase in Japan. It means, it cannot be helped. Their ethos and manner of dealing with the disaster is quite different from an American one. Due to their high population density and ability to subside on only 25% of the land mass, and given their culture’s 4000 year old history, they’ve adapted to different methods of expression. One source below helps explain the phenomena of honne versus tatemae. “Honne means truth. Tatemae means facade.” All cultures have something similar. We cannot often express the pressure we feel within. If we’re with people we are intimate with, if we’re with people we inherently trust, we might tell them a little portion of our reality. Maybe we might even express our heart-felt feelings, but it’s rare to risk so much. Usually at times of great tragedy, and only later upon reflection of it, do we allow the pressure to be released. It helps to do it communally. As they say in the West, “Misery loves company.” Like the pop off valve, the risks of holding the pressure within exceed the risk of release.
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A second JAIF press release is more concerning and revealing. If we read
the fine print, we can note that “NISA
announced that the reactor pressure vessel of
Unit 2 and 3 may have lost air tightness because of low pressure inside
the pressure vessel.
NISA told that it is unlikely that these are cracks or holes in the
reactor pressure vessels at the same occasion. While the NHK and the Japanese Educational site on the Nuclear disaster keep us updated on #1 reactor’s pressure, their perception of it is that is has flat-lined. That perception is in sharp contrast to our own view. The current reactor pressure for #1 is 0.908 Mega pascals: a number nine times atmospheric pressure. If it’s cracked, as they Japanese say it is, it may be a double-edged sword. Pressure is being released, but it’s also massively building up.
Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesperson for a nuclear agency seems to
continue to be wildly optimistic given the circumstances. “Even though
some amount of radiation keeps leaking from reactors and their
containment vessels, they are not totally destroyed and are functioning”
I’m glad that other Japanese are being more transparent in their
assessment. I can’t imagine anyone taking the view that they are
functioning.
In what possible way? The BBC also ran a story from the evacuees from Futaba. Their homes were not damaged by the earthquake or tsunami. Initially they must have felt relief, as if they had been miraculously saved from the disaster. That is until the realization that their homes and property have been irreparably damaged from the radiation levels. Like the residents of Chernobyl, they may never be able to return and live there again.
The Japan Times released a highly critical report on Fukushima, the
first hard hitting article to openly complain about the government
response. A former member of the Japanese Self Defense Forces remarks,
"If the government gave out information on where the radiation was
likely to spread and told farmers to cover their vegetables with plastic
sheets, the contamination level could have stayed within the government
limit," said Inoue. "It's a man-made disaster." Revelations of the depth of the tragedy continue each day. They are slowly released by the by spokespersons and citizens of the suffering nation of Japan. We will continue to provide coverage on the new information as new developments occur.
Sources:
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