[jolepp]

The crippled nuclear reactors at Japan's Fukushima power plant have finally been stabilised, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has announced.
...
Mr Noda's declaration of a "cold shutdown" condition marked the stabilisation of the plant.
The government says it will take decades to dismantle it completely.
...
A 20km (12m) exclusion zone remains in place around the plant.
...
More than 80,000 people had to leave the area, but radiation levels in some places remain too high for them to return home.

Earlier this week, the government said it could take up to 40 years to fully decommission the plant and clean up surrounding areas.
...

BBC News - Japan PM says Fukushima nuclear site finally stabilised

[boriscleto]

Daily Kos: Nuclear Regulatory Meltdown: Four NRC Commisioners Conspire with Republicans in Coup Attempt

Four commissioners of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission attempted to delay the Commission's response to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear emergency, to cover up the severity of the incident and to weaken nuclear safety regulation. The four commissioners, conspiring with House Republican Daryl Issa, are attempting a coup against Chairman Jazcko and a mutiny against President Obama. They are attempting to force out the Chairman, to weaken nuclear safety enforcement and to restore the Yucca Mt. high level waste repository that President Obama gave an order to terminate. House Republicans, under pressure from the nuclear power industry, have been attempting to force the President to continue development of Yucca Mountain. The coup leader is Commissioner Bill Magwood who has worked as a consultant to TEPCO, the owner of the failed Fukushima Daiichi reactors.

Daily Kos: The Fuku-Ugly Hits Home

The New York Times dutifully reports today that Japan is Set to Declare Control over the reactor cores and spent fuel pools at the Fukushima Daiichi reservation. Despite the fact that we all now know the reactor cores are no longer in their vessels, or necessarily even in their containments. I guess they think that "control" means the corium's underground, thus well shielded until and unless it melts its way to the water table

[Parallax]

Everybody that believes everything's under control, raise your hands.

[dadipentak]

Eerybody that believes everything's under control, raise your hands.

Um...anybody? Don't be shy.

[Ratmagiclady]

Everybody that believes everything's under control, raise your hands.

Everyone who remembers how long ago it was *claimed* everything was under control... As opposed to today, raise your parietal lobes.

As the only person around who'll admit to experiencing memory-loss, I'll note that some forms of mass-media amnesia piss me off.


Especially while Newt's running for President. *sputter.* I mean, *seriously?* (Remember the source of all those bad Neocon ideas that no one owns up to right now? 'Contract On America?' It was like yesterday to me... Rather recently. Seriously, this dude even running for anything is an insult to the very idea of human beings having some kind of capacity for memory retention. )

[fisheye freak]

What is with those Japanese politicians? They are compulsive liars - they lie even when they do not have to. Maybe they should be made to put their money where their mouths are and visit the site and stay overnight. If they are wrong, they get themselves fried with the radiation. Fair?

[wlachan]

No authentic politicians can stop lying for a second. They lie to survive, and lie some more to thrive.

---

Last edited by wlachan; 12-17-2011 at 01:26 AM.

[Parallax]

As the only person around who'll admit to experiencing memory-loss,

I admit to a certain degree of memory loss as well; but ii's VERY selective.

[jolepp]

related: BBC News - Fukushima accident: disaster response failed - report

[jogiba]

Anything that is radioactive and called Fukushima can never be a success IMHO.

[philbaum]

Earlier this week, the government said it could take up to 40 years to fully decommission the plant and clean up surrounding areas.

40 years is a conviently long time to assure that anyone currently in government and corporate positions of authority in this mess, will be dead, retired or past caring about this. It can then be passed to the next generation to set another 40 year goal.

Chernobyl, is the only other precedent for this degree of nuclear disaster and its hardly "cleaned-up". Fukushima will never be completely cleaned up and will require monitoring and corrective actions indefinitely. Did anyone say "concrete sarcophagus". How's the plutonium cleanup in the farm fields going?

More importantly to me, what is our American government doing with the many reactors we have of about the same age? Same 6 hour of backup battery power supply?? No wonder the Republican commissioners wanted to delay the NRC report's issue.

[jolepp]

I suppose the responsible thing to do would be to remove the fuel if possible. Then again they'll likely need to take a look into the reactor vessels first to figure it out and this might not be wise / possible for a while yet, not even with machinery under remote control.

[philbaum]

I'm not going to spend too much time trying to sort out all the information but did find this:

At the plant itself, Japanese workers have begun to install a protective cap
at the first reactor aimed at preventing radiation from spreading.

The
54-meter-high construction covered with polymeric material will serve as a
protective measure for two years, giving enough time to erect a permanent
concrete sarcophagus.

Similar caps will cover two more damaged reactors
of the plant before the end of September.

Source: Fukushima operator says ?sorry? as workers erect protective cap — RT

Doesn't appear that it was any safer to go after the melted fuel at Fukushima than it was at Chernobyl. Nothing like concrete, and lots of it to cover up mistakes. I think, don't remember exactly, that Chernobyl is on their second sarcophagus.