The radioactive waste at "The Fourth Reactor and the Destiny of Japan"

In an essay by that title, Akio Matsumura has warned about the risks of Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4's high-level radioactive waste storage pool collapsing:

"In the last weeks, I have been speaking constantly with Japanese government and party leaders on this urgent issue. Surprisingly, most of them were not aware of the dangerous situation. I, along with many eminent scientists, are emphasizing the precarious situation of the fourth reactor that contains 1,535 nuclear fuel rods in the pool and is balanced on the second floor [sic*], outside of the reactor containment vessel. If the fuel rods spill onto the ground, disaster will ensue and force Tokyo and Yokohama to close, creating a gigantic evacuation zone. All scientists I have talked with say that if the structure collapses we will be in a situation well beyond where science has ever gone. The destiny of Japan will be changed and the disaster will certainly compromise the security of neighboring countries and the rest of the world in terms of health, migration and geopolitics.  The Japanese government should immediately create an independent assessment team to determine the structural integrity of the spent fuel pool and its supporting structure. This is of the highest importance: the structure’s security is critical to the country’s future."

Dr. Gordon Edwards, Montreal based President of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility (CCNR), responded to Matsumura's essay in whole hearted agreement about the risks, and calling for international assistance to prevent a worsening of the catastrophe.

Edwards provided Matsumura more technical detail in a letter on January 13th.

[*General Electric Boiling Water Reactors of the Mark 1 design actually have high-level radioactive waste storage pools located several stories up in the air]

Lake Michigan surrounded by radioactive waste risks

Satellite photo of Lake MichiganAs shown by the map in Beyond Nuclear's "Routine Radioactive Releases from Nuclear Power Plants in the United States: What Are the Dangers?", as well as by Nuclear Awareness Project's "Great Lakes Nuclear Hot Spots" map, Lake Michigan is surrounded by risky atomic reactors on its shores.

In Wisconsin, one reactor operates at Kewaunee, while two operate at Point Beach. Some years ago, Kewaunee alone had a majority of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) "yellow findings" (second highest level of safety violation) of the entire 103 (at the time) operating reactors in the entire U.S. fleet; Point Beach had a majority -- 3 of 5 -- of the "red findings" (highest level of safety violation) in the entire country. In Michigan, two reactors operate at Cook nuclear power plant, with one operating at Palisades. Cook was shut down for major safety violations from 1997 to 2000; Palisades suffered 5 un-planned shutdowns of varying severity in 2011 alone.  In addition, the largest decommissioning in U.S. history is underway at Zion -- at least a billion dollar price tag for dismantling two 1,000 megawatt-electric reactors -- just 30 miles north of Chicago. At Big Rock Point in Michigan, despite spending $366 million on decommissioning a tiny, experimental reactor, plutonium and other radioactive hazards were left behind in the soil, groundwater, and sediments of Lake Michigan.

Rory Keane at the Medill Journalism School of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois has just published an article entitled "Nuclear Worries Abound in Great Lakes Region,"  about such radioactive risks to Lake Michigan as tritium leaks from aging atomic reactors, as well as high-level radioactive wastes stored in indoor pools and outdoor dry casks that have nowhere to go. The article quotes Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps regarding the reactor and radioactive waste risks, as well as tritium leaks: “Lake Michigan alone faces some of the major safety violations in the country...the opinion of the NRC and company was…‘dilution is the solution.’ We call that delusional.”

Detroit Edison admitted in 1999 that Fermi 2's high-level radioactive waste storage pool could begin boiling in 4 hours, 12 minutes

NRC file photo of Fermi 2 on the Lake Erie shoreline near Monroe, MichiganOn Nov. 19, 1999, Detroit Edison admitted that its densely packed high-level radioactive waste storage pool at Fermi 2 -- the largest reactor in the entire world of the Fukushima Daiichi design (General Electric Boiling Water Reactor of the Mark 1 containment design) could begin boiling just 4 hours and 12 minutes after loss of electricity to run storage pool cooling system water circulation pumps. 

Detroit Edison admitted: “Complete loss of all forced pool cooling is not considered a credible event in the design basis, as stated in UFSAR [Updated Final Safety Analysis Report] section 9.1.3.3. Nevertheless, a loss-of-cooling event was analyzed for all discharge scenarios. The interruption of the cooling to the pool was assumed to occur coincident with the  SFP [Spent Fuel Poo] peak decay heat generation. The analysis determined the time when the pool bulk water reaches boiling and the resultant maximum water loss rate from the surface. The calculated time to boil is 4.20 hours after the cooling is lost in the most severe scenario. However, this is acceptable because the corresponding boil-off rate is less than the makeup capacity of 100 gpm [gallons per minute] available from the condensate storage tanks, and additional sources of makeup including the fire protection system and category I systems which can be aligned to supply SFP makeup. Additionally, the 4.20 hour period allows sufficient time for the operators to intervene and line up an alternate source to remove the decay heat and replenish the pool inventory.”

This excerpt can be found on Page 7 of “Enclosure 1 to NRC-99-0084,” ENCLOSURE 1 TO NRC-99-0084, FERMI 2, NRC DOCKET NO. 50-341, OPERATING LICENSE NO. NPF-43, REQUEST TO REVISE TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS: DESIGN FEATURES-FUEL STORAGE AND PROGRAMS AND MANUALS-HIGH DENSITY SPENT FUEL RACKS, DESCRIPTION AND EVALUATION OF THE PROPOSED CHANGES, attached to AFFIDAVIT (of Michael P. McNamara of Holtec International) PURSUANT TO 10CFR2.790, dated Nov. 19, 1999, sent by Douglas R. Gipson, Senior Vice President, Nuclear Generation, Detroit Edison to NRC on Nov. 19, 1999.

"Fukushima's U.S. Nuclear Nightmare"

An article by John Raymond posted at his ZSpace Page features Beyond Nuclear's "Freeze Our Fukushimas" campaign to shut down the 23 Fukushima Daiichi twins in the U.S. -- General Electric Boiling Water Reactors of the Mark 1 design. Paul Gunter is quoted extensively on reactor risks, and Kevin Kamps on high-level radioactive waste storage pool risks.

"Cyber war" threatens on-site radioactive waste storage pools

Public Radio International's The World has reported that the U.S. military now recognizes "cyber war" as the "new fifth domain of war between states, after air, land, sea and outer space." It reported "the humanitarian consequences of a cyber attack could include damage to infrastructure like power grids and toxic waste facilities," which could, of course, include atomic reactors and high-level radioactive waste storage pools. Bennett Ramberg warned more than 25 years ago that reactors and radioactive waste could be targeted during war, in his book Nuclear Power Plants as Weapons for the Enemy: An Unrecognized Military Peril. The Stuxnet computer worm, targeted at the Iranian uranium enrichment facilities, is rumored to have been launched by the U.S. and/or Israeli militaries, although no radioactivity releases to the environment from the resulting damage were reported.