Japan: from bad to worse

Japan-GeigerCounter

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Japan-GeigerCounterCan thing go from bad to worse? Reuters is reporting that the Japanese government plans to take control of TEPCO, the Tokyo Electric Power Company. The lack of leadership, the growing concerns of nuclear contamination spreading, and the seemingly inability to correct the current problems have completely undermined confidence in the company. It is reported that shares in TEPCO are down 80 percent.

While the government is not looking at nationalizing the company, it is apparently looking to have certain level of managerial involvement. Of course, does the government also see the potential problems coming up? Liabilities for compensation due to the nuclear disaster could total more than the equity of the entire company. This would vary depending on the time necessary for resolution but experts are saying this could take decades before the entire problem is definitively solved.

Recordings of radioactivity around the plant are continuing to concern and scare people. Australia Broadcasting wrote that levels of radioactive iodine-131 in the Pacific off the plant have been recorded at a new high of 4,385 times the legal limit. Reuters wrote that Japan’s nuclear watchdog has said the consistently high levels of radiation found in the sea outside Japan’s tsunami-damaged nuclear plant complex may mean that radiation is leaking out continuously.

Will Chernobyl hold a long term answer for Fukushima? The original sarcophagus designed to cover and contain the reactor which exploded in 1986, was never meant to last longer than 10 years. That was 25 years ago and it is now considered dangerously unstable. Consequently, work is underway to build a new structure, a 345 foot high hanger which will cover the crumbling sarcophagus and it is designed to last a century. Reports have said that Fukushima reactors number one, two, three, and four will be permanently closed down. The damage is too great to consider any repairs but the threat of radioactivity will remain permanently. Will the situation end up sufficiently controlled to think about disassembling the reactors or like Chernobyl, will the answer be to contain the radioactive danger by permanently covering it?

Japan has been increasingly turning to foreign aid to assist in handling Fukushima. (USA Today) It would seem the problem has exceeded the grasp of TEPCO, the company overseeing the nuclear power facilities. As the French president Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in the country for a state visit, the first foreign leader to visit after this unprecedented disaster, French experts were on their way to joining their Japanese counterparts in controlling this nuclear situation. The United States is sending a robot to help in working closer to areas with levels of radiation harmful to humans.

PBS News – Mar 31/2011

News Wrap: Japanese Radiation Levels Measure 10,000 Times Standard Level

Reports state that radiation in groundwater around the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan reached 10,000 times the standard level. Still, Japanese officials say there is not currently a threat of contamination.

Associated Press – Mar 31/2011

Japan Seeks Foreign Help in Nuke Crisis

Japan was reaching out for foreign assistance to help cope with the crisis at its ailing Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant. Visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy was among those pledging support Thursday. (March 31)

France24 – Mar 31/2011

Japan – Naoto Kan: We need to learn from Fukushima

Japan – Prime minister met French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Sarkozy was the first world leader to arrive in post-quake Japan Thursday as the country came under pressure to extend its evacuation zone around the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant due to concerns about spreading radiation.

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