missingsky102)
Published on Mar 12, 2014
Japan
ex-Prime Minister: Fukushima very close to 'China syndrome' — First
time in history where melted fuel "burned through, leaking to outside of
container" — Reactor melted down 4 hours after M9.0 quake (VIDEO)
Interview
with Japan's former Prime Minister Naoto Kan, Mar. 11, 2014: the night
of that first day of March 11, what I was being told, being reported,
was that the water levels were safely above the level of [...] fuel rods
[...] however, now we know that actually the measuring equipment to
measure the water level was broken at that time. Only 4 hours after the
earthquake occurred [...] it experienced meltdown in the reactor one.
And even through the container of thickness 20 centimeters, there was
actually a hole being burned through, and melted fuel had been actually
leaking through to the outside of the container. And now we know this
information, that this was happening at 7:00 p.m. approximately on that
day. But at the time, none of this information was accurately conveyed
to me. And this was actually the first incident of an accident where a
hole in the pressure container had been created. [TMI's reactor] wasn't
gone to the extent of actually having a hole in the container and
leaking through in this way. So the Fukushima accident was the first
accident to actually melt down in this kind of way. And it was a
situation very close to what we call perhaps the "China syndrome."http://enenews.com/japan-ex-prime-min...
Ex-Japanese PM on How Fukushima Meltdown was Worse Than Chernobyl & Why He Now Opposes Nuclear Power
Three years ago today a massive earthquake triggered a devastating tsunami that struck Japan's northeast coast, resulting in an unprecedented nuclear crisis: a triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station. As Japan marks the anniversary with continued uncertainty around Fukushima's long-term impact, we are joined by Naoto Kan, Japan's prime minister at the time. It's rare that a sitting world leader changes his position completely, but that's what Kan has done. He explains how he came to oppose nuclear power while still in office, as he weighed Tokyo's evacuation. "It's impossible to totally prevent any kind of accident or disaster happening at the nuclear power plants," Kan says. "And so, the one way to prevent this from happening, to prevent the risk of having to evacuate such huge amounts of people, 50 million people, and for the purpose, for the benefit of the lives of our people, and even the economy of Japan, I came to change the position, that the only way to do this was to totally get rid of the nuclear power plants."
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/3/11...
Chomsky: From Hiroshima to Fukushima, Vietnam to Fallujah, State Power Ignores Its Massive Harm
World-renowned political dissident, linguist, author and MIT Professor Noam Chomsky traveled to Japan last week ahead of the three-year anniversary of the Fukushima crisis. Chomsky, now 85 years old, met with Fukushima survivors, including families who evacuated the area after the meltdown. "[It's] particularly horrifying that this is happening in Japan with its unique, horrendous experiences with the impact of nuclear explosions, which we don't have to discuss," Chomsky says. "And it's particularly horrifying when happening to children — but unfortunately, this is what happens all the time."
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