Did earthquake begin meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi even before tsunami hit?

The Atlantic Wire, in an article entitled "Meltdown: What Really Happened at Fukushima?" by Jake Adelstein and David McNeill, reports -- based on interviews with eyewitnesses, as well as a careful review of the catastrophe's timeline and even documented admissions made by Tokyo Electric Power Company itself -- that major damage to piping and other safety significant structures at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 -- the oldest reactor at the site -- may very well have begun the first meltdown, even before the tsunami hit. The article reports:

"The reason for official reluctance to admit that the earthquake did direct structural damage to reactor one is obvious. Katsunobu Onda, author of TEPCO: The Dark Empire, who sounded the alarm about the firm in his 2007 book explains it this way: 'If TEPCO and the government of Japan admit an earthquake can do direct damage to the reactor, this raises suspicions about the safety of every reactor they run. They are using a number of antiquated reactors that have the same systematic problems, the same wear and tear on the piping.' "

The article adds:

"On May 15, TEPCO went some way toward admitting at least some of these claims in a report called 'Reactor Core Status of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit One.' The report said there might have been pre-tsunami damage to key facilities including pipes. 'This means that assurances from the industry in Japan and overseas that the reactors were robust is now blown apart,' said Shaun Burnie, an independent nuclear waste consultant. 'It raises fundamental questions on all reactors in high seismic risk areas.' "

Tsunamis are even more rare than already rare earthquakes. Thus, tsunami risks -- including to U.S. reactors -- can more easily be portrayed by the nuclear establishment in industry and government as exceedingly improbable -- even though a radioactively catastrophic one has just happened in Japan. Not only Tepco and the Japanese federal government were quick to obscure earthquake damage at Fukushima Daiichi, focusing attention on the tsunami's impact instead. Exelon Nuclear's CEO, John Rowe, who "serves" on President Obama's and Energy Secretary Chu's "Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future," was quick to downplay the earthquake's impact at Fukushima, instead highlighting the tsunami. An Exelon statement dated March 14th began:

"Exelon is closely monitoring the situation in Japan as it continues to unfold. While there is still a great deal we don’t know, from all information the company received so far, it appears that the damage to the Japanese plants was primarily related to the tsunami, not the earthquake."

A common "red herring" refrain of the U.S. nuclear industry since March 11th is that tsunamis are impossible at the many inland reactors across the U.S., while largely or entirely ignoring earthquake risks themselves, as well as other pathways (tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, fires, power outages, mechanical failure, human error, intentional attack, etc.) that could plunge reactors into station blackout, followed within hours by core meltdown and days by high-level radioactive waste storage pool fires.

U.S. nuclear lobbyists bury safety and financial concerns under mountains of cash

With a little help from their friends, like U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman (Democrat-New Mexico) and his staff on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee which he chairs, the Nuclear Energy Institute's lobbyists were out in force on Capitol Hill within days of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe, downplaying any safety significance for the U.S., the Center for Public Integrity's iwatch news reported. The article reported NEI's federal lobbying expenditures and campaign contributions: an average of $2 million per year since 2008 on the former, and $323,000 for the latter in the 2010 election cycle alone.

But that is but the tip of the iceberg. NEI's many individual member corporations spend on lobbying and campaign contributions as well. Judy Pasternak at American University's Investigative Reporting Workshop revealed in Jan., 2010 that from 1999 to 2009, the nuclear power industry as a whole had spent $645 million lobbying at the federal level, and another $64 million in campaign contributions, making it one of the biggest players in town when it comes to Inside the Beltway political influence.

The Associated Press recently reported that in the first quarter of 2011 alone, NEI spent $545,000 lobbying the U.S. Congress and numerous federal executive branch agencies, including the White House on a long list of "asks" for taxpayer-backed subsidies and "regulatory relief."

OPPD worker injured by fire amidst flooding at Ft. Calhoun

The Omaha World-Herald has reported that an OPPD worker suffered burns to his arms and face as he fought a fire started as a water pump was being re-fueled at the flooded Ft. Calhoun atomic reactor. While an OPPD spokesman downplayed the significance of the fire to the overall safety of the nuclear power plant, it is yet another indication of the mounting risks at a severely flooded atomic reactor.

On June 26th, when Ft. Calhoun's Aqua Dam collapsed, the inrushing flood waters spilled fuel oil for water pumps, causing a fire hazard that OPPD had not anticipated. The utility's incident report to NRC, entitled "OFFSITE NOTIFICATION DUE TO PETROLEUM RELEASE TO THE MISSOURI RIVER," stated: 

"At approximately 0125 CDT, the AquaDam providing enhanced flood protection for Fort Calhoun Station Unit 1 failed. This resulted in approximately 100 gallons of petroleum being released into the river after a protective barrier was breached and many fuel containers were washed out to the river. The fuel/oil containers were staged around the facility to supply fuel for pumps which remove water within the flood containment barriers. The spill was reported to the State of Nebraska at 10:45 AM CDT on 6/26/2011."

As John Sullivan of ProPublica reported, on June 9th yet another fire at Ft. Calhoun knocked out electricity to run cooling water circulation at the high-level radioactive waste storage pool for 90 minutes, causing the pool water to heat up 2 degrees. Sullivan had earlier reported the widespread violation of fire safety regulations throughout the nuclear power industry, as had Susan Stranahan at the Center for Public Integrity's iWatch News.

NRC to Army Corps of Engineers: What if dam breaks?

Last Monday, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Greg Jaczko toured the flooded Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant on the edge of the historically swollen Missouri River. Although 2.5 feet of floodwaters are lapping at the containment and auxiliary buildings housing the reactor and emergency safety and cooling systems, as well as the water intake and emergency feedwater pumps, Jaczko assured the media and the public that the facilities were qualified up to 1,014 feet above sea level -- leaving a margin of about 6 feet above the highest projected flood stage. But apparently unaccounted for in that assurance of safety from the NRC was the risk of a dam upstream on the Missouri breaching and releasing a wall of water down the river. As the Omaha World-Herald reports, two days after Jaczko's visit, the NRC staff made a formal request for such an analysis to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in charge of six major dams upstream. At the bottom of that news story is a 20 minute audio recording of Jaczko first addressing, then answering questions from, a room full of Omaha Public Power District officials and workers, as well as some media reporters. Jaczko also announced that NRC and the Army Corps of Engineers will be in daily telephone conference call communication about flooding safety issues at Ft. Calhoun and Cooper atomic reactors. An expert on the Fort Peck Dam has warned that its failure could cause a domino effect failure of the other five major dams downstream, one of which is not far upriver from Ft. Calhoun. But hydro-geologist Bob Criss warns that not only Nebraska's atomic reactors, but also the radioactive waste dump at the West Lake Landfill near St. Louis, Missouri is at risk -- also begging the question, what about the Callaway atomic reactor near the Missouri River in central Missouri?

Could levee failures upstream plunge Ft. Calhoun into deeper risk?

According to local television news reports, a levee near the Ft. Calhoun nuclear power plant was intentionally breached on Friday in an effort to drain flooded farm fields. But the released water then flowed back into the Missouri River, raising its flood level by an un-reported amount. Federal, state, and county government authorities disclaim any involvement in the levee breach, leaving the local levee control board to answer questions. This raises another "what if" regarding flooding risks at Ft. Calhoun: what if private individuals upstream, taking matters into their own hands, decide to breach levees to save homes or crops from pent up floodwaters? Could the released water raise the flooding at the Ft. Calhoun atomic reactor yet higher, when there is only about 6 feet to spare before "all bets are off" on preventing flood waters from overwhelming vital safety and cooling systems?