As of Saturday morning, July 16, Japan time, TEPCO and the Japanese government reported via the governmental news source NHK that all three reactors in "total meltdown" since mid-March have been brought to a 'stable' condition. They also report that all 4 of the spent fuel pools are also stable, thus completing the first step of what they originally predicted in April would be a 3-month effort to bring the plants to "cold shutdown."
The assessment adds that reactors 1, 2 and 3 have been stably cooled down, and that nitrogen has been injected into their containment vessels to prevent hydrogen explosions.
Now, Mainichi and ex-SKF haven't reported this news yet, nor have I seen any detailed analysis - or even a copy - of the report. I expect it will be combed over very carefully to parse the details of just how 'stable' they can actually be, and what a term like "cold shutdown" means for three molten masses of corium weighing in at about 170 tons apiece. Or how effective nitrogen [gas] can be in preventing hydrogen explosions in containments known to be seriously breached and holding nothing above atmospheric pressure. Or maybe why they feel it necessary to inject nitrogen into leaky containments to prevent 'stabilized' molted corium from exploding…
Needless to say, I am quite skeptical of this report. Even though after 4 months I certainly hope those masses of corium are done melting whatever they were trying to melt on their way toward the water table. That news would be most welcome to the whole world. News that the fuel pools aren't leaking anymore would also be welcome. And news that the #4 pool isn't about to collapse would be nice too. They're a long way from recovering any of it, but let's hope they're telling at least some kind of pertinent truth this time. Their record on that hasn't been exactly stellar.
TEPCO and its governmental partners-in-crime keep right on putting out those ridiculous timelines anyway, as if anybody in the world has any reason to believe a word of it. Japan Today reports that priority in the recovery they say is at hand will be placed on removing fuel from the #3 and #4 spent fuel pools - the most seriously effected pools from the containment building explosions in mid-March. And that they expect it to take "up to" three years to complete decontamination of the accumulated water on site, to the point where the government will allow it to be released to the sea.
EX-SKF does report a rumor from back in May that high levels of plutonium were detected in rice paddies 50 km from the reservation, just as a bit of background for the news Mainichi reported today that radiation-tainted rice straw has been identified as the culprit in the gross contamination of 42 cows from Fukushima province, most of which have already been consumed by people in at least 26 prefectures. The fodder straw fed to the cattle was found to have contained up to 93,000 becquerels of cesium per kilogram - 73 times the already very high 'emergency' allowable safety level. Cesium was also found this week in shitake mushrooms grown outside the exclusion zone in Fukushima province.
Health Minister Risuo Hosokawa says he is considering a plan to expand radiation testing of cattle to the whole of Fukushima prefecture, including all areas outside the exclusion zone. The cattle at issue in the cesium scandal were from a farm outside the exclusion zone in Asakawa, kept inside and fed fodder. Which was the government's recommendation to farmers following the nuclear disaster.
And despite increasing realization that the accidents have contaminated a much larger area of Japan than just the 20-km exclusion zone around the reservation, Prime Minister Naoto Kan visited the prefecture amidst talk of reducing the exclusion zone so people can go home. For its part, TEPCO has decided to deny compensation to kindergartens, nursing homes and clinics because these facilities don't fall into the category of "small and medium sized companies eligible for payments.
Meanwhile, frustrated Japanese citizens are still working to get adequate monitoring and testing. Below are three installments of an NHK Special Report about collaborating to create a radioactive fallout contamination map that might be of actual use to people.
Part I
Part II
Part III
If anyone has more recent reports or analyses on the 'stability' announcement, please post links in your comments. Thanks!