Why You Should Still Be Paying Attention to Fukushima 5 Years LaterBy Claire Bernish Five years ago today, as Popular Mechanics summarized, the earth moved more than 20 meters over a 500-mile zone and the resulting earthquake released as much energy as a 45-megaton hydrogen bomb (to put this in perspective, this is 30,000 times more powerful as the bomb that leveled Hiroshima). It was the fourth-strongest earthquake recorded since 1900 and the strongest earthquake to strike Japan in recorded history. The quake shifted the Earths axis by somewhere between 4 and 10 inches, altering the length of a day by nearly 2 microseconds. This release of energy set off an epic tsunami, reaching a height of around 40 meters (140 feet) before making landfall on the Japanese coast, obliterating nearly every building in its path; more than a million buildings were destroyed or damaged. Perched on the coast, of course, was the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, whose three functioning reactors, units 1, 2, and 3, were knocked offline by the quake as they were designed to do and were operating under power of backup diesel generators. A seawall, intended to shield the plant from just such a tsunami, proved to be as ineffectual as critics had previously warned. Seawater immediately inundated the emergency generators, knocking out the only source of power keeping necessary cool water circulating over the nuclear fuel rods. Though emergency crews scrambled in the ensuing chaos to find alternative means for cooling the reactors cores, it became clear their mission was one of containing the scope of the disaster rather than restoring the plant. Chemical reactions from the series of events caused pockets of hydrogen to build up in support buildings and for days after the initial disaster resulting in a number of explosions that were captured in dramatic video by surveillance aircraft. Government officials fumbled emergency procedures by many accounts there were delays and misinformation in abundance immediately following the catastrophe which arguably placed the health of the population in question. All told, the evacuation eventually comprised an area of 20 km (12 miles) surrounding the crippled nuclear plant. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which operated Fukushima, has conducted a notoriously botched cleanup and containment effort ever since. Five years have seen even the attempt to locate the missing fuel which heated to the point the rods melted through their containment vessels become a largely fruitless endeavor. In fact, its not at all clear where the highly radioactive fuel is located now. It is extremely difficult to access the inside of the nuclear plant, Naohiro Masuda, TEPCOs head of decommissioning, stated in an interview, Newsweek reported. The biggest obstacle is the radiation. Camera-laden, specialized robots each taking two years to develop sent inside the plant to locate the missing fuel have all become incapacitated once radiation interferes with their wiring. Water must be constantly pumped over the destroyed cores in an effort to keep them cool, but once used for that purpose, it must also be pumped out and cannot be reused. TEPCO hastily constructed storage tanks to hold this radioactive water waste, and though some improvements have been made to their design since the early days following the calamity, there are reports of constant leaks and seepages including into the sea. TEPCOs effort to contain radioactivity to the site, by manufacturing an underground wall of ice to prevent the inflow of groundwater, has been similarly futile. Though the first stages of the wall were completed in February, critics are concerned both with the amount of time the project has taken and whether it will ultimately pay off. The reactors continue to bleed radiation into the groundwater and thence into the Pacific Ocean, said former nuclear engineer, Artie Gunderson, according to Newsweek. When Tepco finally stops the groundwater, that will be the end of the beginning. Though the suggestion has been made to entomb the plant by encasing radioactive contaminants in a material like concrete as was the ultimate solution for Chernobyl officials believe Fukushimas location next to the Pacific would endanger the environment. So far, TEPCO and Japanese government officials have been unable to develop a clear plan of action for decommissioning Fukushima. Estimates vary for the length of time needed to effectively carry out the massive project, though they concur it will take decades. This article (Why You Should Still Be Paying Attention to Fukushima 5 Years Later) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Claire Bernish and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org. Is HAARPs ability to make earthquakes even considered? A documented weakness in the containment and coincidentally one of the top 4 most powerful quakes ever hits it. The 1% love testing destructive technology on Japan, and I believe this is more of the same. Dickard, you are on the right track, see my comment above. See jimstones website Absolute rubbish. Look at his website and then good luck trying to figure out what it actually says. People who know nothing about Japan or nuclear power, or the history of the two in this region, might swallow that crap, but the absurdity that somehow the stuxnet virus was used to cause the meltdowns ignores: 1. The cause of the earthquake Doh! The switch gear and the pumps failed not the generators, the earthquake was minor,- you didnt even try to argue away my fact about there being no significant earthquake damage one of the reactors that supposedly blew up was disassembled at the time and Japan has always been a problem for your Tribe because their culture of Honor has proved impossible infiltrate and to corrupt. The immediate cause was the Japanese agreement to enrich uranium for Iran not your confusing bullshit. earthquake was minor What is your proof of this absurdity? Millions of people experienced the earthquake on that day, and the huge tremor that occurred a few minutes after the first, not to mention the dozens of smaller ones after that. You have written many statements on this page, but none of them are sourced other than Jim Stone CIA disinfo agent. You make a lot of BIG claims none of which are backed up with links or evidence. In other words, your arguments are worthless until you can either put up. I said, in context, that the earthquake was (relatively) minor I said it was less than a 7.0 which, compared to the 9.0 richter scale they claim, IS minor. Remember a single point increase on that scale is a ten times increase in energy released. So the claimed 9.0 earthquake would release 100 times the energy of a 7.0 (actually it was smaller than a 7.0 probably only about a 6.5) Only a lier or a fool takes a statement out of context. As to my sources, perhaps youd like to explain why the CIA would like to spread this particular Disinformation it seems to me that the CIA would be much more likely to suppress it (like you are attempting to do). I find your last sentence interesting: your arguments are worthless until you can either put up. you suddenly stop half way through perhaps finishing of with the normal ending of or shut up would make your goal too clear. Beware the shill, John! Noticed the increase lately? Yes, I suspect that I attract them. I often dont bother to call them out because it gives them the opportunity to play the youre paranoid and Im just an honest commentator card. Totally agree, John. Sounds like you have been on the front lines for a while, too. I wonder whats on our score card lol! Yes, Id be interested in that scoreboard if it exists. As for my experience, I started to learn debating internet style more than 20 years ago (Im an old bugger) on a section of the net called UseNet. It is very obscure these days but before the www existed it was a major part of the net. Originally there was only eMail and UseNet, both text only. UseNet was a system of bulletin boards where there was a huge number of sites that you could subscribe to on every conceivable subject or interest and anyone could read posts and reply or post new threads. Most were unmoderated it was very close to pure anarchy. Lots of fun was had. I found his site fairly easy to read . I dont know if Jim Stones site is still reliable last I looked he had stopped updating it he may be dead or in a dark cage somewhere. But his information is out there, you can still find it. It is sabotage that stops it updating it happened with me too but I logged on from a blogger and it was updated. Thanks for that info I was hoping he was OK. That is what I said when it happened. They dont care, and would obviously do their testing, and keep it an absolute secret if it was the cause. Total sociopaths are in control and its scary. Even if not for HARRP, GE was at fault for the reactor containment failures, and was not held responsible. Glad to see you have your tin-foil thinking cap on. Well, here we have the whole official story, thanks Clair. The problem is its completely false. It was actually a relatively minor earthquake less than a 7.0. You can confirm this by researching videos of the tsunami flooding onto the shore. Every video you will find that shows this happening shows the water flooding UNDAMAGED cities. Parking lots with the cars neatly lined up, suburbs of timber framed houses showing undamaged. If you can find it there is a video taken inside a news room close to the epicenter and one journalist doesnt even stop typing. They upped the earthquake to match the size of the tsunami. What a lie. I was there/here on 3/11 and it was no minor earthquake, I can tell you that, it was MASSIVE. So take your nonsense and peddle elsewhere. This is the retarded Jim Stone thesis (feces) being repeddled, blah. Yeah sure you were there. How did you survive? Have you seen the photos of the Kobe quake that was Much smaller yet totally devastated that city? Kobe killed thousands, the Fukushima earthquake killed virtually zero except for the tsunami. Im no fan of the Israelis, but this is a case of poisoning the well. The Israelis are evil for many reasons including using nuclear weapons as a form of blackmail against Europe (we will bomb you if you dont do as we say). The level of ignorance of your comments is astounding, no facts, a lot of absurd pronouncements. You claim the earthquake was minor when millions of people experienced it, and it was NOT minor, the opposite. What evidence does Jim Stone present in his convoluted page of garbage that is reliably sourced? None. Your admission of the conventional, political level evil of the Tribe doesnt give you any sort of pass to credibility everyone knows those things what you are trying to hide is a level of EVIL that goes off the human chart. These shills think we are so stupid we cant identify them! Never mess with a free thinking truther! Yey! Go us! lol Look, I am also a researcher and so-called conspiracy theorist, but your comment has no basis in fact, and wouldnt matter if it did. There is an existing dire problem now. It wouldnt matter either, if HAARP caused the earthquake that supposedly caused the Tsunami and subsequent reactor meltdowns. The only thing that matters now, is not eating fish caught in the Pacific, and not swimming or surfing in the Pacific, and not drinking any water processed from the Pacific, and not being in the rain over North America, and not breathing the air when there is a storm that originates from Japan. Why dont you just find a video showing a Japanese suburb that was devastated Before being hit by the tsunami before claiming it was caused by natural causes? The meltdowns were Not caused by the tsunami and the tsunami was Not caused by the earthquake. It was deliberate Sabotage. Im not saying such a video exists or even that the quake caused massive damage before the Tsunami (though there are videos from Tokyo, in office buildings which show the strength and severity of the earthquake, even in those earthquake proofed/reinforced buildings). Your first two paragraphs make no sense. Maybe you missed my meaning Im saying that you need to find such videos if you believe that the tsunami was caused by an earthquake but you cant because there was no 9.0 earthquake. The office buildings would have been destroyed by such an intense quake as they claim happened. Yet there was virtually no damage compared to the Kobe event which was much smaller. The numbers are a bit preposterous, Popular Mechanics was shifted to the left by enough to have become Less POPULAR. My geology degree remains firmly planted in reality. This is, however, absolutely the worst (known) reactor accident in the history of Nuclear Power and the radiation release will be never ending, (arguably) in that it will take hundreds of thousands of years for the radio-active elements to decay to a HALF-Potency, refereed to as half life. Though spread out, the radiation has, essentially, permanently harmed the Bio-Sphere. There is SOME hope, new developments that are related to cold fusion better referred to as LENR (Low Energy Nuclear Reactions) which are being suppressed in the normal way (ignoring it or ridicule) point to the possibility of speeding up the supposedly invariant rate of nuclear half-lifes. Revelations 11:8 ..God will destroy those who destroy the earth Wow, so there IS some good in that book. Pity the Tribe hasnt paid any attention to that bit. I sent you a follow up which was deleted. Interesting, youre not the only one, EddySachs also sent one, I saw it as a notification that an additional comment existed while I was answering another, so I clicked to download it, It was a funny comment about how I shouldnt bother about the shills and idiots. I wrote a reply but when I clicked post it gave me a big red message saying something like You can only reply to active messages I guess this confirms my opinion about this subject. Nice. I think we were lucky to get the exposure we did. It will be trigger words such as a certain book I mentioned Normally that is the cause thats why I use Tribe or Chosen Ones or sometimes Eskimos, but this post by Eddy didnt contain any that I noticed and it was not rejected automatically by a computer but initially got through, then was picked up within a few minutes presumably by a human. I suspect the subject of our discussion flagged it as dangerous and they didnt want it becoming too well noticed by the masses. Eddy is a well known and popular poster and his endorsement needed to be hidden to preserve the image of us as fringe loonies. BTW Im curious about the book you mentioned. Ad hominem attack. What evidence do you have other than Jim Stones piece of nonsense unsourced page that the Israelis were behind the Earthquake, or was there no earthquake now? If you cant explain your thesis simply then you are confused from the start. Start over and start using your brain. I am no fan of the Israelis, they are of the Synagogue of Satan. The truth is the truth though. Did you idiots on this page know that Japan exists in the Pacific Rim of FIre of seismic activity? Learn some basic geology before making moronic claims from the Jim Stone CIA disinfo site. Doh! You need to maintain consistency at least if you want to maintain your cover Rad Man. Nobody claimed there was no earthquake. That is an example of a Straw Man argument. And I doubt that Eddy has even seen the Jim Stone information, he was just commenting on the quality of the responses. I am led to concur that they used HAARP or a nuclear bomb down in the Mariana Trench or one close to Japanas this was a completely staged False Flag with the Israhell security contract that actually used a mini nuke (so-called Hydrogen explosion) at the same time their Stuxnet virus was loosed in the software the cooling generators were never able to deploy.as another Khazarian Mafia HIT!.for Japan potentially selling plutonium to Iran threatening to discontinue the tribute to the American Petro $$$+ it sent out a HUGE message to anyone else attempting to break from their hegemony (IMHO). actually Rad Man .I was commenting about someone else the juxtaposition inadvertently got You in the crosXhairs by mistake essentially out of context.sincerest apologies for the rise in blood pressure I think you are being too nice to this Rad Man dude. In my opinion he deserves no respect. To be impartial fair open.Ive never come across the Rad Man beforeIll have to reserve judgement until I read him fresh off the press in a new post. Thats good then I thought you had had interactions with him before and found him legitimate. My instincts tell me he shows many signs of being a damage control agent, doing his hasbara duties. I dont think we will hear from him again. my mistake see below Hey! They reinstated your post Eddy, maybe our mentioning it had some effect! Another big quakes due to happen beneath another Japanese reactor. Poor Japan. Thanks encyclopedia! 