Fukushima Disaster

 

Professor Michio Kaku is a Japanese-American physicist whose interview offers a unique and extremely well informed perspective on the Fukushima reactor accident, and its relation to nuclear energy issues in both the United Stated and Japan.

 

Kaku does a really great job at explaining the Japanese reactor meltdown in plain language that is easy to understand. Kaku has done statistical analysis measuring the degree of threat that the reactor meltdown poses to Fukushima and the surrounding region. In his own words the reactor meltdown in Japan is a Level 7 threat. In the video Kaku often equates a Level 7 meltdown as being worse than the 1986 reactor meltdown in Chernobyl.

 

Kaku adamantly believes that things are not as stable as Tokyo Electric would like the public to believe. From the beginning Tokyo Electric's handling of the reactor meltdown was extremely inept. They used salt water from the Pacific Ocean in a desperate attempt to put water on the core so as to lower the temperature. They also called the local firemen into a suicide mission just to keep water over the reactor cores.

 

Ever since the reactor meltdown Tokyo Electric has been denying the degree of severity. However, the reality is that 500 trillion becquerels of radiation have already been released by the reactor meltdown. Though the reactors are technically "stable" radiation is still leaking from the reactors. Kaku posits that all it would take is an earthquake or other comparable natural disaster to restart the reactor meltdown. If such an aggravation occurred there could be meltdowns at three different reactors in Japan.

 

A big concern is the level of contamination caused by radioactive iodine, which has been released into the atmosphere. Food derived from animals exposed to radioactive iodine has already been impounded because it is unfit for sale to the public. Furthermore, many families have been evacuated from the region, and workers at Tokyo Electric have been went on strike. Kaku believes that the region could see a marked increase in cases of leukemia, thyroid cancer and other fatal health issues caused by exposure to radiation.

 

Kaku suggests that Tokyo Electric be removed from managing the nuclear reactor. Kaku proposes that the Japanese military take charge of the situation and throw all of their resources into mitigating the damages and providing safety to the region and its citizens. Kaku suggests that the nuclear reactor be entombed underground over a period of several years. This process would be similar to the solution that Gorbachev utilized following the Chernobyl reactor meltdown.

 

The interview of Professor Michio Kaku offers a unique, personal and highly intellectually viewpoint regarding the Japanese nuclear reactor crises. This video is a must watch for anyone wishing to learn more about the mitigation of nuclear reactor meltdowns in Japan.