Hydrogen explosion at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 in mid-March 2011, which turned the reactor building into rubble and deposited 50 tons of debris into the high-level radioactive waste storage poolAs the fourth year of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe is about to begin on March 11th, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has published a report, Preventing Hydrogen Explosions in Severe Nuclear Accidents: Unresolved Safety Issues Involving Hydrogen Generation and Mitigation. This report was authored by nuclear safety consultant Mark Leyse. Christopher Paine, who served as contributing editor on the report, has published a blog. NRDC has also put out a press release.
The hydrogen explosions at the General Electric Mark I Boiling Water Reactors at Fukushima Daiichi Units 1, 3, and 4 contributed to Beyond Nuclear's decision to launch its Freeze Our Fukushimas campaign, in April 2011, calling for the immediate and permanent shutdown of the 23 identically-designed U.S. Mark Is, and the 8 similarly-designed Mark IIs, across the U.S.