The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant experienced catastrophic equipment failure as a result of the Tsunami disaster that occurred on March 11th of 2011, and which never ended. The nuclear power plant accident is the largest of its kind since the well-known Chernobyl disaster of 1986. To say that the situation has since been dealt with, or contained, in any sort of satisfactory manner, would be a generous overstatement. Contamination from the Fukushima disaster has been ongoing since the meltdown first occurred, with over 300 tons of toxic water (300,000 kg) spilling into the Pacific Ocean.
Initially, the Tokyo Electronic Power Company
(TEPCO) began pumping hundreds of tons of water daily into the damaged
plant in order to cool down the crippled reactors, the water cooling the
damaged plant was being stored in roughly 1000 or so tanks. The tanks
hold enough water in their entirety to fill roughly 160 Olympic-sized
swimming pools. TEPCO has admitted that at least 20 trillion to 40 trillion becquerels of radioactive tritium may
have leaked into the sea since the disaster. The TEPCO company had also
constructed a wall around the damaged area, but failure in its
structure has also led to even more contaminated water leaking into the
Pacific Ocean. It is believed that the remaining core of the problem is
an uncontrolled leakage from the water tanks, and specialists haven’t the slightest idea of where the leak is coming from (years later).
Since
the beginning, the government hadn’t been involved in the cleanup of
the disaster. And it only recently began to step in, allocating hundreds
of millions of dollars in funds to aid in the containment of the
problem. But why weren’t they involved in coming up with a solution for
the disaster from day one? The disaster is still spiraling out of
control, with massive quantities of heavily contaminated water still
pouring into the Pacific Ocean every day.
This has led the Japanese government to finally seek
assistance internationally, asking for help from abroad to assist in
solving the problem, pleading that their nation needs the knowledge and
expertise of others around the world. But some say that the Japanese
government hasn’t been so welcoming from international assistance:
“I am aware of three US companies with state of the art technology that have been to Japan repeatedly and have been rebuffed by the Japanese government. And I have spoken with six Japanese medical doctors who have said that they were told not to discuss radiation induced medical issues with their patients” – Arnie Gundersen, Vermont-based nuclear engineer
But Japanese officials continue,
“We are wide open to receive the most advanced knowledge from overseas to contain the problem,” – Japanese Prime minister, Shinzo Abe
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has
announced plans to dispatch a team to Japan in order to review the
cleanup process and progress being made at the Fukushima plant. Japanese
authorities have been harshly criticized for their reluctance to get
involved with the management of containing the crisis, and demonstrating
an attitude that is devoid of any sense of responsibility to protect
the surrounding environment or people’s lives. The most recent setback
with the cleanup, where 6 workers were exposed to highly radioactive water, occurred when the a worker
mistakenly (and carelessly) detached a pipe which was connected to a
treatment system to remove salt from the tonnes of water being pumped to
into the damaged reactors to keep them cool. The accidental power cut stopped the pumps from working,
and a backup system was immediately implemented. Weeks ago, over 400
liters of contaminated water spilled over when workers, again
carelessly, overfilled a storage tank without the proper gauge to warn
them of the danger.
To say that finding a functional solution to the problem
has been pressing and difficult, is an understatement. The still
ever-present reality is that the Fukushima situation is not contained,
and specialists seem to be at a loss for ideas on how to quell the
problem. With contaminated water leaking into the ocean for over 2
years, it is unacceptable that Japan has only started to get involved,
or ask for help, now.
