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Title: Japan ministers ignored safety warnings over nuclear reactors
Source:
guardian.co.uk
URL Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/201 ... sters-ignored-warnings-nuclear
Published: Mar 14, 2011
Author: Robin McKie
Post Date: 2011-03-14 21:45:45 by Ferret Mike
Keywords: None
Views: 2958
Comments: 9
Seismologist Ishibashi Katsuhiko claimed that an accident was likely and that plants have 'fundamental vulnerability' The timing of the near nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi could not have been more appropriate. In only a few weeks the world will mark the 25th anniversary of the worst nuclear plant disaster ever to affect our planet – at Chernobyl in Ukraine. A major core meltdown released a deadly cloud of radioactive material over Europe and gave the name Chernobyl a terrible resonance. This weekend it is clear that the name Fukushima came perilously close to achieving a similar notoriety. However, the real embarrassment for the Japanese government is not so much the nature of the accident but the fact it was warned long ago about the risks it faced in building nuclear plants in areas of intense seismic activity. Several years ago, the seismologist Ishibashi Katsuhiko stated, specifically, that such an accident was highly likely to occur. Nuclear power plants in Japan have a "fundamental vulnerability" to major earthquakes, Katsuhiko said in 2007. The government, the power industry and the academic community had seriously underestimated the potential risks posed by major quakes. Katsuhiko, who is professor of urban safety at Kobe University, has highlighted three incidents at reactors between 2005 and 2007. Atomic plants at Onagawa, Shika and Kashiwazaki-Kariwa were all struck by earthquakes that triggered tremors stronger than those to which the reactor had been designed to survive. In the case of the incident at the Kushiwazaki reactor in northwestern Japan, a 6.8-scale earthquake on 16 July 2007 set off a fire that blazed for two hours and allowed radioactive water to leak from the plant. However, no action was taken in the wake of any of these incidents despite Katsuhiko's warning at the time that the nation's reactors had "fatal flaws" in their design. Japan is the world's third largest nuclear power user, with 53 reactors that provide 34.5% of its electricity, and there are plans to increase provision to 50% by 2030. Unfortunately its nuclear industry is bedevilled with controversy In 2002 the president of the country's largest power utility was forced to resign after he and other senior officials were suspected of falsifying plant safety records. Nor is the nature of its reactor planning inducing much comfort. The trouble is, says Katsuhiko, that Japan began building up its atomic energy system 40 years ago, when seismic activity in the country was comparatively low. This affected the designs of plants which were not built to robust enough standards, the seismologist argues. Since then, Japan has experienced more serious quakes as tension has built up on tectonic plates, culminating in Friday's devastating earthquake, the worst in Japan for more than 100 years. The result was an incident that came perilously close to triggering a nuclear meltdown. Starved of coolant, the reactor would have heated up dangerously until its fuel rods melted and released a cloud of highly radioactive material. Not surprisingly, the International Atomic Energy Agency has announced it is now urgently seeking details of what happened at Fukushima. The rest of the world – which includes many countries, including Britain, that are preparing significant nuclear expansion plans – will be looking very closely at what it finds. • This article was amended on 14 March 2011. The caption implied that the photograph was of Fukushima nuclear plant, not Chernobyl. This has been amended
The emergency at Fukushima's nuclear power plant comes almost 25 years after the meltdown at Chernobyl in Ukraine (above). Photograph: Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA
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#1. To: Ferret Mike (#0)
Chicken Little call home.
Living in mouth breather's empty noggins 24/7/365 totally rent free!
Heh, the piece I posted is according to you a chicken little. I merely quoted and posted it. I have not stated anymore than my deepest hope that it is wrong. Nobody in their right mind wants a meltdown, especially one that breaches the reactor vessel.
. Chicken Little, call home.
Living in mouth breather's empty noggins 24/7/365 totally rent free!
Kewl, E mail the reporter who wrote the piece and tell him this. ;-) This is his or her words, not mine. I just posted the piece.
btw weasel gurl, I agree with you on this. You libTURD whores are certainly NOT in your right mind(s). Nice of you to admit the TRUTH cornflake boy.
Living in mouth breather's empty noggins 24/7/365 totally rent free!
LOL! The ol "I vas just a soldier! I vas just following orders!" "defense" eh you vile libTURD whore? You see creep that's the problem with being a LIAR, you even LIE to yourself. You don't even know what "truth" is, or even what it means, you pitiful tool. Chicken Little call home!
Living in mouth breather's empty noggins 24/7/365 totally rent free!
It's not clear at all. This is shit reporting. The reactors handled the earthquake in style, the tsunami? not so much. The backup systems and safety had to be relied on. That's not a disaster, it's a win. Yay!
------------------------------------- Actually no. Posting another's words to share is a voluntary act, not something done under orders. Following orders is not something I do here, as fortunately I don't work for a ding a ling like Stone. One reason I come here is you are so terribly amusing. I had a hedgehog like you once. IT was given to me as an adult and it didn't much cotton to people and would fuzz out the tiny spikes and growl like it was a micro Briggs and Stratton lawn mower engine. Hey, if you ever Want lessons on how to really insult and get past the beginner stages you are on, just let me know. Some of your mistakes are real basic and easy to correct. You're welcome. ;-D
LOL! Gibber away weasel gurl. "Methinks thou doth protest too much cornflake boy. As usual faggot your head is way up your own ass. My purpose isn't to "insult" you faggot, it's to speak the truth about who and WHAT you are, which is a craven, LYING, herd dwelling libTURD whore. LOL! If that's an "insult" so be it. BUT it's the TRUTH. Nobody with a working brain cell can deny the TRUTH of that. Even IF I wanted to "punish" you weasel gurl, (and that would require that you were of some importance to me somehow, which you are not), I could do nothing more terrible to you than to sentence you to see yourself in the mirror for the rest of your miserable craven life. YOU are a running bad joke faggot. It's quaint that you "think" that you actually matter in any way! LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Living in mouth breather's empty noggins 24/7/365 totally rent free!
Chernobyl, CHERNOBYL, melt down, MELT DOWN! The sky is falling, the sky is FALLING, the SKY is FALLING! Chernobyl, CHERNOBYL, melt down, MELT DOWN! The sky is falling, the sky is FALLING, the SKY is FALLING! Chernobyl, CHERNOBYL, melt down, MELT DOWN! The sky is falling, the sky is FALLING, the SKY is FALLING! Chernobyl, CHERNOBYL, melt down, MELT DOWN! The sky is falling, the sky is FALLING, the SKY is FALLING! Chernobyl, CHERNOBYL, melt down, MELT DOWN! The sky is falling, the sky is FALLING, the SKY is FALLING! Chernobyl, CHERNOBYL, melt down, MELT DOWN! The sky is falling, the sky is FALLING, the SKY is FALLING! Chernobyl, CHERNOBYL, melt down, MELT DOWN! The sky is falling, the sky is FALLING, the SKY is FALLING!
#2. To: Mad Dog (#1)
#3. To: Ferret Mike (#2)
Chernobyl, CHERNOBYL, melt down, MELT DOWN! The sky is falling, the sky is FALLING, the SKY is FALLING! Chernobyl, CHERNOBYL, melt down, MELT DOWN! The sky is falling, the sky is FALLING, the SKY is FALLING! Chernobyl, CHERNOBYL, melt down, MELT DOWN! The sky is falling, the sky is FALLING, the SKY is FALLING! Chernobyl, CHERNOBYL, melt down, MELT DOWN! The sky is falling, the sky is FALLING, the SKY is FALLING! Chernobyl, CHERNOBYL, melt down, MELT DOWN! The sky is falling, the sky is FALLING, the SKY is FALLING! Chernobyl, CHERNOBYL, melt down, MELT DOWN! The sky is falling, the sky is FALLING, the SKY is FALLING! Chernobyl, CHERNOBYL, melt down, MELT DOWN! The sky is falling, the sky is FALLING, the SKY is FALLING!
#4. To: Mad Dog (#3)
#5. To: Ferret Mike (#2)
Nobody in their right mind wants a meltdown, especially one that breaches the reactor vessel.
#6. To: Ferret Mike (#4)
#7. To: Ferret Mike (#0)
This weekend it is clear that the name Fukushima came perilously close to achieving a similar notoriety.
Why don't you make like a tree and get out of here?
#8. To: Mad Dog (#6)
"The ol "I vas just a soldier! I vas just following orders!" "defense" "
#9. To: Ferret Mike (#8)
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