Mitsuhei Murata

Worldwide Extinction Level Event In The Making: Ground Under Fukushima Unit 4 Is Sinking, Structure On Verge Of Complete Collapse

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Links on what a Reactor 4 SFP collapse really means for Japan and the world are down below.

– Ground under Fukushima Unit 4 sinking, structure on verge of complete collapse (Natural News, Oct 16, 2012):

Though the mainstream media has long since abandoned the issue, the precarious situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility in Japan is only continuing to worsen, according to a prominent Japanese official. During a recent interview, Mitsuhei Murata, the former Japanese Ambassador to both Switzerland and Senegal, explained that the ground beneath the plant’s Unit 4 is gradually sinking, and that the entire structure is very likely on the verge of complete collapse.

This is highly concerning, as Unit 4 currently holds more than 1,500 spent nuclear fuel rods, and a collective 37 million curies of deadly radiation that, if released, could make much of the world completely uninhabitable. As some Natural News readers will recall, Unit 4 contains the infamous elevated cooling pool that was severely damaged following the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that struck on March 11, 2011.

According to the Secretary of former Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, the ground beneath Unit 4 has already sunk by about 31.5 inches since the disaster, and this sinking has taken place unevenly. If the ground continues to sink, which it is expected to, or if another earthquake of even as low as a magnitude six occurs in the region, the entire structure could collapse, which would fully drain the cooling pool and cause a catastrophic meltdown.

“If Unit 4 collapses, the worse case scenario will be a meltdown, and a resultant fire in the atmosphere. That will be the most unprecedented crisis that man has ever experienced. Nobody will be able to approach the plants … as all will have melted down and caused a big fire,” said Murata during the interview. “Many scientists say if Unit 4 collapses, not only will Japan lie in ruin, but the entire world will also face serious damages.”

Read moreWorldwide Extinction Level Event In The Making: Ground Under Fukushima Unit 4 Is Sinking, Structure On Verge Of Complete Collapse

Experts Warn Of Possible Catastrophe At Japan Reactor (The Hindu)

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– Experts warn of possible catastrophe at Japan reactor (The Hindu, June 13, 2012):

Some nuclear experts are warning that spent fuel rods at a damaged plant in Japan could trigger a major catastrophe despite the government’s declaration in December that the emergency phase of the nation’s worst nuclear disaster was over.

Fifteen months after a magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami struck the Fukushima Daiichi plant and led to meltdowns, fears about reactor 4 have grown as its building holds a storage pool filled with 1,535 nuclear fuel rod assemblies.

Read moreExperts Warn Of Possible Catastrophe At Japan Reactor (The Hindu)

Former Ambassador To Switzerland Mitsuhei Murata: Another Accident At No. 4 Reactor Building Could Cause The ‘Final Catastrophe Of The World’

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– Ambassador’s comments translated by Asahi: Another accident at No. 4 reactor building could cause the “final catastrophe of the world” (ENENews, May 21, 2012):

Subscription Only: Officials try to calm fears about spent nuclear fuel rods
Asahi Shimbun AJW
By HIROSHI MATSUBARA
May 21, 2012

[…] Experts from around the world are becoming increasingly concerned about the state of the No. 4 reactor building. […]

Mitsuhei Murata, former ambassador to Switzerland, also told an Upper House hearing in March that another accident at the reactor building could cause the “final catastrophe of the world.” […]

Nuclear Expert: Radioactive Noble Gas Clouds Over Pacific Northwest Much Worse Than Ever Anticipated (Video)

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– Nuclear Expert: Fukushima releases are equal to or greater than Chernobyl — Radioactive noble gas clouds over US Northwest much worse than ever anticipated (VIDEO) (ENENews, May 13, 2012):

Follow-up to: Nuclear Expert: “I believe Fukushima is worse than Chernobyl and I think I can prove that” (VIDEO)

Fukushima Daiichi: The Truth and the Future
Fairewinds Energy Education
May 12, 2012

As part of a presentation in Kansai, Japan on May 12th 2012, Maggie and Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Energy Education answered specific questions asked by symposium organizers regarding the condition of the spent fuel pool at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4. Fairewinds analyzes the explosion at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3. Also, Arnie discusses what the future may hold for Japan if it chooses a path without nuclear power.

At 25:00 in

  • Radioactive noble gas clouds to the Pacific Northwest that are much worse than we ever anticipated to have been released
  • Iodine and Cesium seem to be roughly on the same level as the releases from Chernobyl
  • When we compare… the total releases at Fukushima likely higher than Chernobyl
  • The important take away here is the releases from Fukushima are at least as serious, if not more so, than Chernobyl

‘Doomsday Scenarios Spread About No. 4 Reactor At Fukushima Plant’ (Asahi Shimbun)

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From the article:

Mitsuhei Murata, 74, a professor emeritus at Tokaigakuen University who once served as Japan’s ambassador to Switzerland:

“If the storage pool should collapse and the 1,535 fuel rods began burning in the atmosphere, an endless amount of radiation would be emitted. Of course, that would mean that Tokyo would become unlivable,” he said.

Murata continued: “Just 50 meters from the No. 4 reactor is the common pool for the No. 1 to No. 6 reactors. The common pool holds 6,375 spent nuclear fuel rods. If a fire should occur at the No. 4 reactor pool, the common pool would also not stand a chance.”

– Doomsday scenarios spread about No. 4 reactor at Fukushima plant (Asahi Shimbun, May 10, 2012):

When Ron Wyden, a Democratic senator from the U.S. state of Oregon, visited the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on April 6, he spent about an hour looking at a building constructed under strict anti-quake standards and observed the facility that processes water contaminated by radiation.

Read more‘Doomsday Scenarios Spread About No. 4 Reactor At Fukushima Plant’ (Asahi Shimbun)

Fukushima Daiichi Site: Cesium-137 Is 200 Times Greater Than At Chernobyl Accident

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Must-see:

– Dr. Helen Caldicott (Co-Founder Of Physicians For Social Responsibility): What We Learned From Fukushima (Video – April 2, 2012):

Dr. Helen Caldicott: If Spent Fuel Pool No. 4 collapses I am evacuating my family from Boston.

Few people know that the Pacific Northwest got whacked hard by fallout from the Fukushima disaster with radiation rates hundreds of thousands of times higher than normal background radiation.

The damage from this is not something that the corporate media or the government is talking about.  It mysteriously disappeared from the radar almost immediately.

More info on reactor 4 SFP here:

– MUST-SEE: Fukushima Totally Out Of Control – Radioactive Fallout In the US – Reactor 4 SFP Is the Highest Risk Now: If The Cooling Water Is Lost It’ll Be Just A Few Hours At Most Before That Waste Is On Fire (RT – The Big Picture – Video)

– Independent And Government Experts Say Reactor 4 SFP Is A Grave Concern: 460 Tons Of Nuclear Fuel Could Overheat, Explode and Release Massive Amounts Of Radiation (((Finishing Off Japan)))

– Fukushima Daiichi Site: Cesium-137 is 200 times greater than at Chernobyl Accident (April 3, 2012):

Japan’s former Ambassador to Switzerland, Mr. Mitsuhei Murata, was invited to speak at the Public Hearing of the Budgetary Committee of the House of Councilors on March 22, 2012, on the Fukushima nuclear power plants accident. Before the Committee, Ambassador Murata strongly stated that if the crippled building of reactor unit 4—with 1,535 fuel rods in the spent fuel pool 100 feet (30 meters) above the ground—collapses, not only will it cause a shutdown of all six reactors but will also affect the common spent fuel pool containing 6,375 fuel rods, located some 50 meters from reactor 4. In both cases the radioactive rods are not protected by a containment vessel; dangerously, they are open to the air. This would certainly cause a global catastrophe like we have never before experienced. He stressed that the responsibility of Japan to the rest of the world is immeasurable. Such a catastrophe would affect us all for centuries. Ambassador Murata informed us that the total numbers of the spent fuel rods at the Fukushima Daiichi site excluding the rods in the pressure vessel is 11,421 (396+615+566+1,535+994+940+6375).

I asked top spent-fuel pools expert Mr. Robert Alvarez, former Senior Policy Advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary for National Security and the Environment at the U.S. Department of Energy, for an explanation of the potential impact of the 11,421 rods.

I received an astounding response from Mr. Alvarez:

It is my understanding that of the 1,532 spent fuel assemblies in reactor No. 4, 304 assemblies are fresh and unirradiated. This then leaves 1,231 irradiated spent fuel rods in pool No. 4.  Based on U.S. Energy Department data, assuming a total of 11,138 spent fuel assemblies are being stored at the Dai-Ichi site spent they contain roughly 982 million curies of intermediate and long-lived radionuclides. I used a higher estimate that Chernobyl released about 2.5 million curies in my earlier estimate regarding pool No. 4.  It appears that there is roughly 393 million curies of Cesium-137 contained in the total spent fuel inventory at the Dai-Ichi site. This is more than 200 times the amount of Cs-137 released at the Chernobyl accident as estimated by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection (NCRP). This is 145% more than the total NCRP estimate of Cs-137 released by all atmospheric nuclear weapons testing, Chernobyl, and world-wide reprocessing plants ( ~270 million curies or 1.0E+18 bequerels).

Many of our readers might find it difficult to appreciate the actual meaning of the figure, yet we can grasp what 200 times more Cesium-137 than the Chernobyl would mean. It would destroy the world environment and our civilization. This is not rocket science, nor does it connect to the pugilistic debate over nuclear power plants. This is an issue of human survival.

Read moreFukushima Daiichi Site: Cesium-137 Is 200 Times Greater Than At Chernobyl Accident