Do We Need a Second Fukushima Daiichai in Bushehr?

The chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Greg Jaczko, claimed that the efforts to cool reactors at Fukushima Daiichai with seawater appeared to be failing, which could lead to a meltdown. A meltdown is not the same as a nuclear explosion. Reactors do not operate as nuclear bombs, but a meltdown will potentially release more lethal radioactive substances into the environment. The US authorities are increasingly worried that the tragedy at the Japanese nuclear plant can evolve to a more serious disaster than that of the partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania in 1979 – but most experts agree that the Fukushima catastrophe will not become as damaging as Chernobyl owing to better reactor-design and safety procedures at the Japanese plant. In Fukushima Daiichai it is not the reactors themselves that are causing the most concern, but the cooling pools that have been drained for water and the fuel rods that are stored in these pools, which are now exposed to air.

The reactors 4, 5, and 6 were turned off at the time of the earthquake and some of the fuel rods were removed and left in the cooling ponds, while maintenance work was under way. Normally, radioactivity and heat generation diminish to 7% in a second after a reactor-shut down. The fuel rods will remain in the cooling pond, about 16 ft under water to prevent overheating and radiation, unless they are reinserted for power generation or disposed of.

The reports that the fuel rods were exposed prompted speculations that the earthquake might have cracked open the cooling pond or the water might have evaporated due to the failure of the cooling system. A report of smoke coming out of one of the reactors was later disputed, as the smoke proved to be steam. The pool is now completely dry, according to a team of 11 US experts who advise the Japanese authorities at the moment.

The owner of the power station, The Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), is warning that the possibility of “re-criticality is not zero”, which means that a nuclear fission chain reaction could start inside the cooling pond unless the situation is stabilized by covering the fuel rods with 16 ft of water. Water reduces the speed of neutrons, so they can be captured by uranium nuclei in the fuel rods, says the professor of nuclear safety at the University of Central Lancashire in the UK, Laurence Williams, in an interview with BBC.

Reports of a fire at reactor 4 yesterday led the authorities to evacuate the technicians from the site for safety reasons, without whose efforts the cooling of the reactors was slowed down even more and the potential for a meltdown and possible leakage of more radioactive materials increased. The helicopter operation to disperse water over the reactors from the air was also halted, as the pilots’ safety could not be ensured. Furthermore, a no-fly zone was imposed in the vicinity of the reactors to prevent airplanes disseminating possible radioactive pollution in the air further a field.

According to a BBC report, police units and the US military have been asked to supply water cannon, which can be shot through the broken roof of one of the reactors from the ground. The US military personnel in the area have been supplied with potassium iodide tablets against radiation sickness. Small doses of radiation can cause nausea and vomiting. Experts claim that radiation levels of 1,000 millisieverts increase the risk of cancer by about 5%. Leukemia, lung, skin, thyroid, breast, and stomach cancers are the most common types of illnesses caused by radiation. Concerns are now widespread that more lethal doses of contamination might be on the horizon. If the radiation reaches the levels of 4,000 to 5,000 millisieverts, half of those exposed to it could die within one month, say the experts.

Tepco has, however, announced that electricity could soon be restored. If the pumps at the nuclear power plant have remained intact after the earthquake and tsunami, and this is a big if, water can soon be pumped into the cooling pools, stabilizing the situation and averting more disaster.

Nevertheless, several European countries have advised their citizens in Japan to consider leaving the country amid confusion and lack of accurate information as to the extent of the danger. Thousands of Japanese evacuees are also angered by what they consider lack of proper information as well as basic necessities. While the calamity continues to rock Japan, the country’s economy is suffering too as investor confidence is falling.

In the wake of this catastrophe in Japan one cannot help but to ponder over Iran’s nuclear agenda. Knowing that Iran is aggressively pursuing a nuclear program, the question one has to ask is: do we really need a replay of Fukushima Daiichai in Bushehr?

AUTHOR Hamid Karimianpour is the author of Nation Building or Democracy by Other Means, Algora Publishing, 2011, available on Amazon.com or eBook. Karimianpour studied economics and philosophy at the University of Oslo in Norway. He moved to England, where he obtained an MBA degree from the University of Hull, then did postgraduate studies in philosophy before immigrating to Virginia in 2006. Karimianpour has traveled extensively through Europe and the Middle East.

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