Risk of Nuclear Catastrophe Escalates in Japan – ‘Worse than Chernobyl’
The Institute for Public Accuracy issued the following statement by nuclear expert, Kevin Kamp, about the risk of nuclear disaster in post-Earthquake Japan: “The electrical grid is down. The emergency diesel generators have been damaged. The multi-reactor Fukushima atomic power plant is now relying on battery power, which will only last around eight hours. The danger is, the very thermally hot reactor cores at the plant must be continuously cooled for 24 to 48 hours. Without any electricity, the pumps won’t be able to pump water through the hot reactor cores to cool them. Once electricity is lost, the irradiated nuclear fuel could begin to melt down. If the containment systems fail, a catastrophic radioactivity release to the environment could occur.”
Not much to add. Not much of a diary, I know, but I'm not quite sure what else to say here.
I realize that wild-eyed disaster scenarios (as if this isn't already disaster enough) are a dime a dozen, but this ran in Forbes, which I presume carries a bit more credibility than, say, the Weekly World News.
As for this Kevin Kamp guy, here's the lowdown on him: (pdf)
Kevin Kamps has served as Radioactive Waste Watchdog at Beyond Nuclear in Takoma Park, Maryland since July, 2007 (Before that, he served in a similar role, as nuclear waste specialist at Nuclear Information & Resource Service (NIRS) in Washington, D.C. since June of 1999). Beyond Nuclear aims to educate and activate the public about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abolish both to safeguard our future. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an energy future that is sustainable, benign and democratic. The Beyond Nuclear team works with diverse partners and allies to provide the public, government officials, and the media with the critical information necessary to move humanity toward a world beyond nuclear.
Hmmm...ok, he certainly is no fan of nuclear power, so there could be a bit of bias here, but I don't know enough about any of this stuff to know one way or the other...
Update: Here's a second article, from Reuters, coming to pretty much the same conclusion:
(Reuters) - Japanese officials may only have hours to cool reactors that have been disabled by Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami or face a nuclear meltdown.
Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) (9501.T) is racing to cool down the reactor core after a highly unusual "station blackout" -- the total loss of power necessary to keep water circulating through the plant to prevent overheating.
Daiichi Units 1, 2 and 3 reactors shut down automatically at 2:46 p.m. local time due to the earthquake. But about an hour later, the on-site diesel back-up generators also shut, leaving the reactors without alternating current (AC) power.
Yikes. Chernobyl was, at the very least, in a sparsely populated area. This one is smack in the middle of several million people. Not good at all :(
Update x2: Oh, shit:
Emergency declared at 2nd Japan nuke plant after cooling fails