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Japan Reacts to Worsening Fukushima Disaster By ... Reopening Nuclear Plant Next to Active Volcano Which Is About to Blow

George Washington's picture




 

Scientists warned that an earthquake could take out Fukushima. The Japanese ignored the warning ... and even tore down the natural seawall which protected Fukushima from tidal waves.

Fukushima is getting worse. And see this and this.

Have the Japanese learned their lesson? Are they decommissioning nuclear plants which are built in dangerous environments?

Of course not!

Instead, they're re-starting a nuclear plant near a volcano which is about to blow ...

A month ago, there was an eruption at Mt. Ontake:

Ontake2 Screenshot from Youtube Video shot on September 29th of Mount erupting. 57 hikers were killed by the explosion

 

Embedded image permalink

 

But - as Newsweek reports - a nuclear plant only 40 miles away will be re-started anyway:

Local officials have voted to reopen a nuclear plant in Japan, despite warnings of increased volcanic activity in the region from scientists.

 

The decision comes despite a warning on Friday that Japan’s Seismological Agency had documented an increase of activity in the Ioyama volcano, located 40 miles away from the power station.

 

***

 

Sendai will become the first Japanese nuclear plant to reopen in since 2011.

 

However the decision comes as scientific authorities warned of increased seismic activity on the island. Volcanologists have warned that the 2011 earthquake, which measured 9.0 on the Richter scale, may have increased the likelihood of volcanic activity throughout the region. [Background.]

 

***

 

The Sendai plant is also situated only 31 miles from Mount Sakurajima, an extremely active volcano which erupts on a regular basis.

 

The documentation of new activity comes barely a month after the eruption of Mount Ontake, when 57 hikers were killed on its slopes. There were no accompanying signs of seismic activity prior to the eruption which might have alerted Japanese authorities to the impending disaster.

 

The vote has been seen as an attempt to resurrect the country’s nuclear industry, which the Japanese government hopes to restart despite public opposition to nuclear energy in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.

 

***

 

Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) approved Sendai's safety features in September, but the plant must still pass operational safety checks before it will be able to reopen.

What could possibly go wrong?

Here's a hint:

A cauldron eruption at one of several volcanoes surrounding the Sendai nuclear power plant could hit the reactors and cause a nationwide disaster, said Toshitsugu Fujii, head of a government-commissioned panel on volcanic eruption prediction.

Ene News explains:

Wall St Journal, Oct. 23, 2014 (emphasis added): One major volcanic eruption could make Japanextinct,” a study by experts at Kobe University warns… “We should be aware… It wouldn’t be a surprise if such gigantic eruption were to take place at any moment.”

Japan Times, Oct. 24, 2014: Colossal volcanic eruption could destroy Japan at any time: study — Japan could be nearly destroyed by a volcanic eruption over the next century that would put nearly all of its population of 127 million people at risk… “It is not an overstatement to say that a colossal volcanic eruption would leave Japan extinct as a country,” Kobe University earth sciences professor Yoshiyuki Tatsumi and associate professor Keiko Suzuki said… A disaster on Kyushu… would see an area with 7 million people buried by flows of lava and molten rock in just two hours [and] making nearly the entire country “unlivable”… It would be “hopeless” trying to save about 120 million

Japan Times, Oct. 24, 2014: Volcano near Sendai nuclear plant is shaking and may eruptAuthorities warned on Friday that a volcano a few dozen kilometers from the Sendai nuclear plant may erupt. It warned people to stay away… Ioyama [shows] signs of rising volcanic activity recently, including a tremor lasting as long as seven minutes… the Meteorological Agency’s volcano division said… [T]he area around the crater is dangerous, he added… On Friday, the warning level for the Sakurajima volcano was at 3, which means people should not approach the peak… Experts warn [the] earthquake in March 2011 may have increased the risk of volcanic activity throughout the nation

Japan Times, Oct 18, 2014: Sendai reactors vulnerable to eruptions [and] could cause a nationwide disaster, said Toshitsugu Fujii, University of Tokyo professor emeritus who heads a government-commissioned panel… [R]egulators ruled out a major eruption… [Fujii] said at best an eruption can be predicted only a matter of hours or days. Studies have shown that pyroclastic flow… at one of the volcanos near the Sendai plant… reached as far as 145 kilometers away, Fujii said. He said a pyroclastic flow from Mount Sakurajima… could easily hit the nuclear plant, which is only 40 kilometers away. Heavy ash falling from an eruption would make it impossible to reach the plant… he said. Many nuclear power plants could be affected

Asahi Shimbun, May 12, 2014: Now is the time to rethink the risk of operating nuclear power plants… it is the first time that Japan has seriously evaluated… the danger posed by volcanoes… Nuclear power plantswould suffer devastating damage from catastrophic eruptions… radioactive materials will continue to be scattered throughout the world

University of Tokyo professor Toshitsugu Fujii, head of government panel on eruption prediction: “Scientifically, they’re not safe… If [reactors] still need to be restarted… it’s for political reasons, not because they’re safe, and you should be honest about that.”

Postscript: The U.S. isn't much better. Moreover, the U.S. is forcing Japan to re-start it's nuclear reactors ... and the U.S. almost wholly controls Japanese nuclear policy.

 

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Sat, 11/01/2014 - 12:28 | 5401640 steveo77
steveo77's picture

SCreen caps from video on making of Fukushima....60 seconds and you will understand the insanity of what they did.

It shows how they removed a mountain to put the plant in danger of waves....all because GE's "one size fits all" designs, GE refused to redesign the water pumps to be high head pumps.    Japan was so entralled (think economic hit man) to get nuke, they moved a  mountain.

I screen capped relevant pictures....in 60 seconds you can see the insanity of it all

http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/2014/10/making-of-fukushima-archives-coriums-in.html

Thu, 10/30/2014 - 11:31 | 5393787 Bemused Observer
Bemused Observer's picture

So where is that nuclear group that goes around checking people's stuff for the UN? They were crawling all over the Middle East looking for rogue weapons a few years back. They seem to be able to gain access to sites...
So why aren't they over there, raising hell about Japan's nuclear program? If they can tell some countries, "You can't build that!", then surely they can tell other countries, "You can't build that THERE!"

Is there any real difference if the resulting horrible nuclear mishap was caused by a terrorist, or domestic stupidity? It won't make a damned bit of difference when the radiation starts hitting the west coast of the US.

Why is the danger from a nuclear Iran any worse than the danger from a nuclear Japan? In fact, I'd argue that Iran is less of a threat, because we can negotiate with people who hate us, if we try.
We can do nothing with these people. They actually like us, the threat isn't an attack by an enemy, it's the fallout (no pun intended) from the epic, bumbling stupidity of a people with a death wish. We've seen how their thinking works, and how they've responded to national stress in the past. Within our lifetimes they have decided that one good way is to crash their planes into other people's stuff...and in recent years they switched from pilots to bankers and tried crashing their economy into other people's stuff. Historically, when their plans have failed, the humiliated leaders ritually disemboweled themselves...
They're gonna do what they're gonna DO, or die trying, because they can't change course-that would cause national loss of face, this is a people who would rather slice themselves open and pull their own guts out rather than be embarrassed in front of others. And they don't care who they take out in the process...
You can work with someone you disagree with. But how do you deal with the problems caused by an overly-sensitive 'friend' who seems determined plow on ahead with a really, really bad idea?

Thu, 10/30/2014 - 08:58 | 5393108 DeadFred
DeadFred's picture

Too bad they can't move Fukashima closer to the volcano. A fifty foot thick cap of lava might fix the situation. Nothing short of that will help much.

Thu, 10/30/2014 - 07:36 | 5392825 Fix It Again Timmy
Fix It Again Timmy's picture

Earth's biosphere developed largely due to the shielding of harmful radiation, so what does Ol' Stupid do?  Erect cosmic ray emitters all over the globe that have the potentiality of making earth uninhabitable - who are those MORONS?....

Thu, 10/30/2014 - 09:01 | 5393138 old naughty
old naughty's picture

you know who.

Thu, 10/30/2014 - 03:52 | 5392653 fredquimby
fredquimby's picture

“It is not an overstatement to say that a colossal volcanic eruption would leave Japan extinct as a country"

Or a colossal tactical nuke or six under the continental shelf holding Japan above that 100 mile deep oceanic trench.

"It was a volcano that done it Milord"

Thu, 10/30/2014 - 01:41 | 5392565 f16hoser
f16hoser's picture

You just can't change STUPID!

Thu, 10/30/2014 - 01:22 | 5392547 Solio
Solio's picture

Earth is approximately 4.6 billion years old. Life has been here about 3.5 billion years. So it took 1.1 billion years for genomes to start showing up and life to begin on our shared home.

Radiation destroys genomes.

What have we done?!

Thu, 10/30/2014 - 00:53 | 5392504 Solio
Solio's picture

Rearranged genomes are no problem, right? The highly-esteemed scientists can fix anything.

Thu, 10/30/2014 - 01:02 | 5392520 Bumbu Sauce
Bumbu Sauce's picture

So natural selection is right out then?  No Harvey-Weinberg?  No neutral theory?

What is the earth 6000 years old then?

Thu, 10/30/2014 - 00:19 | 5392450 g'kar
g'kar's picture

"Japan Reacts to Worsening Fukushima Disaster By ... Reopening Nuclear Plant Next to Active Volcano Which Is About to Blow"

 

This headline was so funny I had to change my underwear.

 

Thu, 10/30/2014 - 01:57 | 5392578 FreedomGuy
FreedomGuy's picture

Let them eat yellow cake.

Thu, 10/30/2014 - 00:30 | 5392471 George Washington
George Washington's picture

Thanks ... Here's some more comedy:

When Guys Decide Which Scientific Studies to Fund …

Thu, 10/30/2014 - 00:35 | 5392473 g'kar
g'kar's picture

LOL...I'm going to double up on my saw palmetto.

Thu, 10/30/2014 - 00:09 | 5392438 Grouchy Marx
Grouchy Marx's picture

I am fond of Japan, the people, and their quirky (to me at least) culture. Very sad to see they are led by the same sort of empty suits as in the West.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 23:57 | 5392416 Fresh
Fresh's picture

I reviewed an old documentary the making of Fukushima.

It shows how they removed a mountain to put the plant in danger of waves....all because GE's "one size fits all" designs, GE refused to redesign the water pumps to be high head pumps.    Japan was so entralled (think economic hit man) to get nuke, they moved a  mountain.

I screen capped relevant pictures....in 60 seconds you can see the insanity of it all

http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/2014/10/making-of-fukushima-archives-coriums-in.html

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 23:49 | 5392402 The Shodge
The Shodge's picture

George, take your meds, we're not all going to die.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 23:58 | 5392419 Grouchy Marx
Grouchy Marx's picture

Let's reconvene in 100 years or so and show George how right you are. 

Thu, 10/30/2014 - 02:38 | 5392615 The Shodge
The Shodge's picture

Why not a billion years?

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 23:22 | 5392352 Spungo
Spungo's picture

They should invade Manchuria just in case

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 22:02 | 5392158 Bumbu Sauce
Bumbu Sauce's picture

What hath the islander polytheists wrought?

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 21:58 | 5392135 teslaberry
teslaberry's picture

GEORGE WASHINGTON ENDLESS PANIC. 

 

YES GW , YOU MAKE GREAT POINTS 90% OF THE TIME, BUT SEIROUSLY---ENDLESS PANIC? YOU ARE FUCKING WORRIED ABOUT A VOLCANOE?

 

CAN YOU BE SERIOUS????

 

while you're at it gw, why forget to mention that the BIGGEST VOLANIC events of the last 100 years in its amount of lava and gas . despite not ever having a major explosion it is spewing more molten mother earth than many many volcanoes in the last 100 years (not counting possible submarine volanos) is STILL ERUPTING FOR THE 6TH WEEK STRAIGHT AND THREATENS CATASTROPHE!!! ( I'M KIDDING)  . Icelandic volcanoe chasm/rift is spewing more magma in the last 6 continuous weeks than any volcnoe in the last 70 years!!!! it's a big deal. relatively speaking. lots of sulfer dioxide beoing spewed. could mean a deep deep winter and no summer for europe, which means crop failure and famine. 

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gas-spewing-icelandic-volcano-...

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 23:02 | 5392297 TNTARG
TNTARG's picture

Yeah, fearmongers, right? We only have an almost dead North Pacific Ocean, giant leaves , vegetables and flower mutations in the Fukushima sorrounding areas, strange animal sicknesses, unusual shit, no birds, no insects (even in the West Coast), more and more animal mutations, cancers of any kind, miscarriages, and new and more strange cancers, sailors going to heaven and little things like that. Nothing to compare with the thousands and thousands the US and NATO are killing on a daily basis. What is really frightening is Ebola, right?   

 

 

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 22:05 | 5392170 George Washington
Wed, 10/29/2014 - 22:15 | 5392196 teslaberry
teslaberry's picture

look gw. i've followed you for years. your articles are generally super high caliber and great. 

 

i dig your work on fukushima especially and even though i had taken a course of nuclear power and waste years ago in school, i felt like i learned a whole lot from reading your posts and following up by doing some independent research. 

 

however, you're sometimes getting to the panic button now. specifically the continuous fear mongering about ebola, and now volcanoes. 

 

listen to me now. VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES ARE THE MOST VIOLENT AND UNSTOPPABLE FORCE OF NATURE. you can only plan to avoid them by changing building patterns. 

you cannot 'stop them' . the idea they are a plague to fear is ridiculous. ACCIDNETS DO HAPPEN. the 60 hikers that died on that volcanoe----were inevitable results of what happens in mother nature . people CANNOT PREDICT EVERY NATURAL DISASTER ACCURATELY AND LETTING NATURE INDUCE PANIC LIKE FEAR IS THE SAME AS LETTING THE DIALECTICS OF TERRORISM INFECT THE PUBLIC DIALOGUE TO DUMB DOWN THE PUBLIC AND SELL FOOLISH SOLUTIONS AND PRODUCTS AND TYRANNY TO STRIP THE PUBLIC OF THEIR RIGHTS AND PROPERTIES. 

 

yes, i know the exact article you wrote about above regarding NRC whistle blowers. the GREAT IRONY OF THE RISK TO THAT NUCLEAR PLANT IN THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES ARE DAMNS ERECTED TO CREATE ELECTRICITY POTENTIALLY FAILING AND FLOODING REACTORS. 

 

so it's not mother nature. it's man. i think you can back down and admit to being a bit overly vigilant , maybe even downright over-worried. 

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 22:50 | 5392268 Buster Cherry
Buster Cherry's picture

I don't think it can be overstated when a reactor built in a very stupid place is spewing cesium with a 30 year half-life and plutonium with a 240,000 year half-life into the Pacific 24/7 since 2011.

 

That's a fucking long time to be deadly...and to go without tuna sandwiches....

 

Why the Japs ever built any reactors there baffles me.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 21:37 | 5392070 IndianaJohn
IndianaJohn's picture

Yeah, and about them there nuclear "wastelands."  It is not the same as the Chicken Littles may want you to think.  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/babushkas/the-babushkas-of-chernobyl-0

And if that is not enough yet. There is Galen Winsor; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejCQrOTE-XA

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 20:18 | 5391868 Wahooo
Wahooo's picture

I guess once you get nuked, you love it forever.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 20:16 | 5391862 silverliberty
silverliberty's picture

Where are all the adventure junkies?????  Where are all the people who love to experience the extreme?  I want to know who is going to be the first nut to try and run/walk through the Fukushima danger zone without a suit.  I wonder how many people would line up to do it for a Billion dollars, televised? 

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 20:24 | 5391881 silverliberty
silverliberty's picture

I wonder if Obola can survive there?  What if you found yourself faced with going into the radioactive danger zone in order to avoid catching Obola?

Damn, this could be a new Japanese game show.  Who says there is nothing on TV?

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 22:17 | 5392199 dvfco
dvfco's picture

I gave you the thumbs up because once you've witnessed a true Japanese game show, you never forget it. They have some twisted shit on TV over there.

I have memories of watching game show contestants getting dipped in boiling soup whenever their partner would get a question wrong and another one where contestants got to go up against the world's best Sumo wrestlers. If they got bounced out of the wrestling circle, as they inevitably did, they landed on mouse trap sticky stuff. Watching adults try to pull their cheeks off mouse trap glue, and others howling as they got dipped in 1,000 gallon bowls of boiling soup stays with you for a while. I watched that 25 years ago and it seems like yesterday.

And, there were much more twisted ones I don't have time to elaborate upon.

But, JAPANESE GAME SHOW = FUCKED UP STUFF.  Alex Trebeck would be horrified.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 20:52 | 5391960 shovelhead
shovelhead's picture

Some of those happy little radiowaves helped to create Ebola for humans to enjoy.

A bit long but chock full of history about bugs called viruses and some of the shennanigans your govt. and big pharm got up to when they...um...monkeyed around creating a vaccine back in the doo-wop days of polio.

Wanna know why your boomer buddies (maybe you and me too) are dropping like flies?

Go for it. Hop down the rabbit hole. Hell, they'll even throw in Lee Harvey Oswald and David Ferrie too with a bit of Castro on the side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8FCJ_VPyns#t=7409

 

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 20:05 | 5391838 Atomizer
Atomizer's picture

We must feel the humanitarian lost as some fucking political correctness act.

Fuck you Japan. Talk to the central banking faggots you have been working with. 

The days of carry trading are over. The joke sits on your lap. You can only offer a happy girl to fix the mess. 

Say?nara 
Wed, 10/29/2014 - 19:57 | 5391819 New American Re...
New American Revolution's picture

So this article says the USA is running Fukashima?   It's so screwed up I can believe that.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 20:29 | 5391896 shovelhead
shovelhead's picture

Not exactly,

It's like we sold them the heroin and the works saying you're gonna want some of this, everyone is doing it, but don't blame me if things get out of hand.

Well, you know how careless people can be...and accidents will happen.

If you kick the habit, it won't be long before the dealer comes around to give you more good advice.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 19:30 | 5391762 shovelhead
shovelhead's picture

Mt. St. Helen's pyroclastic flow was only 19 miles long so the reactor should be perfectly safe.

All things being equal on the Pacific Ring of Fire, that is.

And if things go bad, as they sometimes do, then Japan can become a carrion bird sanctuary.

"We clean up so you don't have to."

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 20:24 | 5391885 George Washington
George Washington's picture

But it was 23 miles across ...

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 18:25 | 5391593 angryBuddhist
angryBuddhist's picture

Let's be realistic about the economic prospects here. The area surrounding the Fukushima facility is now irreversably a nuclear wasteland and will be that way for thousands of years. Perfect place to set up shop storing the world's radioactive waste. They could charge a handsome fee for this which would help their economy and no pesky environmental issues to have to get all worried over. It's called making lemonaid out of a batch of lemons. Perfect!

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 21:28 | 5392058 IndianaJohn
IndianaJohn's picture

Yeah, and about them there nuclear "wastelands."  It is not the same as the Chicken Littles may want you to think.  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/babushkas/the-babushkas-of-chernobyl-0

And if that is not enough yet. There is Galen Winsor; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejCQrOTE-XA

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 18:01 | 5391520 ted41776
ted41776's picture

maybe they can use lava to cool the core

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 17:44 | 5391480 Dragon HAwk
Dragon HAwk's picture

Hey Japan used to like Miniaturization.. all they have to do is make the Nuke plants smaller and they can move them around the island.. Duh problem solved..

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 17:51 | 5391497 Perimetr
Perimetr's picture

Looks like a good place to store high-level nuclear waste! 

don't forget, it's "safe" and "clean"!

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 17:11 | 5391387 NotApplicable
NotApplicable's picture

Not defending nuke plants, but I'm going to guess a volcano will fuck these plants up (and people) regardless of whether or not they're actively producing energy, as all of the fuel is still onsite, either in the cores, or the spent fuel pools.

Only once they are decommissioned/dismantled will it make any difference. How many years does it take for the rods to cool down enough to put into dry-cask storage again?

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 18:18 | 5391574 patb
patb's picture

usually 5 years.

 

 

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 16:58 | 5391346 Sirius Wonderblast
Sirius Wonderblast's picture

If the eruption was that big, the nuke plant would be a side show.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 19:13 | 5391715 Bob
Bob's picture

I can't help but wonder how all that nuclear material would respond to being buried under a hundred feet of lava. 

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 16:54 | 5391335 goldhedge
goldhedge's picture

New saying: Dumb as a Japanese.

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 16:44 | 5391305 radiobomb
radiobomb's picture

Glad to see another triumph of logic.  Did anyone get a payrise/bonus/promotion for this genius plan ?

Fukushima - fyi, after the tsunami there were a few crews with geiger counters plotting readings for about a month around the site at various distances.

Tepco then placed their detectors at the points of lowest readings.  Not geometrically spaced from the fuku daichi site. But specifically in the places that had the lowest readings.  Make your own minds up as to why......

The more you find out about fukushima the more you find out how bad it really is....

Wed, 10/29/2014 - 17:43 | 5391482 Paveway IV
Paveway IV's picture

"Make your own minds up as to why......"

Because that level of radiation frys the radiation reading equipment - that stuff is expensive as hell. Best to deploy it to low-radiation areas so it lasts as long as possible.

TEPCO is just being fiscally responsible.

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