Surprise, Surprise.

It seems that the Fukushima nuclear power plant near the Okuma town is in a constant battle with Japan’s weather forecast.  The power plant is “bracing itself for Typhoon Francisco, set to hit the country this weekend”.  The operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) plans to avoid a disaster by moving the contaminated water into underground storage pools previously deemed unsafe due to leaks. Unfortunately time has left no alternative options and workers are preparing for their most dangerous cleanup operation yet attempting to remove “400 tons of spent fuel from Reactor No. 4.”

What’s the deal TEPCO? In earlier posts we mentioned that the time for another disaster was sooner than later, and here we are scrambling to figure out the next move to prevent radiation leaks. We’ve witnessed disaster with moving the water to underground storage pools after the leaks occurred earlier this year, how do we know this won’t happen again? The costs of the disaster are starting to batter Japan’s economy but more importantly, we have an increasingly urgent need to prevent severe radiological disaster.  The lightest tremors could trigger catastrophic leaks; let’s hope Typhoon Francisco doesn’t devastate the power plant before TEPCO finds legitimate ways to fix it.

Fukushima moves radioactive water as it braces for typhoon francisco. (October, 2013 24). Retrieved from http://rt.com/news/fukushima-typhoon-radioactive-water-658/

Johnson, A. (October, 2013 17). Typhoon francisco, following wipha's deadly path, drenches guam on its way to japan. Retrieved from http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/17/21015024-typhoon-francisco-following-wiphas-deadly-path-drenches-guam-on-its-way-to-japan?lite