The largest nuclear incident since Chernobyl, the Fukushima catastrophe began when a series of natural disasters led to the meltdown of three nuclear reactors in the Daiichi plant in 2011. After the plant was hit by an earthquake-triggered tsunami, the majority of the reactor’s core melted within just the first three days, creating toxic by-product of radioactive water.Some 140,000 people were subsequently evacuated from their homes within 12 miles of the plant, and the catastrophe prompted Japan’s nuclear industry to completely shut down all of its 54 operating nuclear reactors. Now, as the government and utility owner, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), begin working towards a speedy decommissioning and dismantling of the plant, many are questioning whether a successful cleanup of the site is even possible in such a small time frame.Chief engineer of Fairewinds Energy Education, a non-profit that aims to educate the public on nuclear policy and safety, Arnie Gundersen says the cleanup efforts are nothing short of impossible.
[…]
So why is the Japanese government in such a rush to decommission the site?
“Quite honestly, the answer has nothing to do with science, and everything to do with politics and money,” Gundersen said. “To understand Fukushima Daiichi, the press needs to follow the money.”
While all operating nuclear power reactors in the country are shut down, Gundersen explained that the industry still pays a staff of 700 engineers and operators. They have been able to do this because Japan’s Energy Corporations have borrowed “tens of billions of dollars” from the country’s banks, money that can only be paid back once the nuclear power plants are restarted.
“My contacts in Japan continue to tell me that the banks are putting enormous pressure on Japan’s Parliament to start up Japan’s nuclear reactors so the banks can get paid back for their investments,” he said.
The fact that the majority of Japanese citizens are against restarting these reactors also means that the government is under a lot of pressure to prove they can be safely restarted in earthquake fault zones. And the best way to do this is to “showcase the decommissioning and dismantling of the Fukushima Daiichi site, long before it is even feasible from a radiological contamination standpoint.”
