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Water leaks at Fukushima could contaminate entire

Pacific Ocean

Published time: August 08, 2013 14:16

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Fukushima nuclear disaster

Tags

Accident,Ecology,Health,Japan,Nuclear

Two and a half years after the Fukashima tragedy Japan does not want to admit how

serious it is, but it is obvious the drastic environmental implications are to follow, Harvey

Wasserman, journalist and advocate for renewable energy, told RT.

RT:Japanese officials have admitted a leak at Fukushima has been happening for two

years and is worse than earlier thought. Why did it take so long to evaluate the actual

repercussions of the tragedy and take decisive measures to tackle them?

HW: The Japanese authorities have been covering up the true depth of the disaster

because they dont want to embarrass themselves and the global nuclear industry and

they are trying to open up another nuclear plant in Japan. When the Japanese people

now find out that the accident is worse than we thought and they have been leaking
http://rt.com/trends/fukushima-nuclear-disaster/http://rt.com/trends/fukushima-nuclear-disaster/http://rt.com/tags/accident/http://rt.com/tags/accident/http://rt.com/tags/ecology/http://rt.com/tags/ecology/http://rt.com/tags/ecology/http://rt.com/tags/health/http://rt.com/tags/health/http://rt.com/tags/health/http://rt.com/tags/japan/http://rt.com/tags/japan/http://rt.com/tags/japan/http://rt.com/tags/nuclear/http://rt.com/tags/nuclear/http://rt.com/tags/nuclear/http://rt.com/tags/nuclear/http://rt.com/tags/japan/http://rt.com/tags/health/http://rt.com/tags/ecology/http://rt.com/tags/accident/http://rt.com/trends/fukushima-nuclear-disaster/


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many tons of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean for almost two and a half years,

this is a catastrophe. Tokyo Electric has no idea how to control this accident. This is

absolutely terrifying after two and a half years. To find out that these reactors have been

out of control, now that they cant control this they dont know whats going on. This is

not a primitive backward country; this is Japan with advanced technology. It has veryserious implications for nuclear power all over the world.

RT:Why the plant's operator failed to contain the leak?

HW:Because they dont know what to do. This has never happened before. You have

three explosions; you have four nuclear reactors that are severely compromised. No one

ever planned for this. This is an apocalyptic event. This is something that could

contaminate the entire Pacific Ocean. It is extremely serious. The reality is that Tokyo

Electric does not know what is happening and does not know how to control what is

going on. Our entire planet is at risk here. This is two and a half years after theseexplosions and they are still in the dark. Its terrifying.

Prof. Christopher Busby, to the contrary, believes that "the Pacific Ocean is big

enoughfor this level of release not to represent the global catastrophe that some are

predicting" and provides his calculationsin his article on RT.com.

RT:An estimated 300 tonnes of contaminated water is spilling daily into the ocean. How

come Tepco insists the leaks still pose no big threat to the environment?

HW:They are lying; they cant face the reality of this situation. When have very serious

quantities of radiation going into the Pacific Ocean. There is no medical or

epidemiological or scientific basis for estimating how much damage this will cost. We

are on entirely new ground here and this cannot go by without a serious impact on the

entire human race. This is a terrible tragedy.
http://rt.com/op-edge/tepco-fukushima-sea-water-reactor-194/http://rt.com/op-edge/tepco-fukushima-sea-water-reactor-194/http://rt.com/op-edge/tepco-fukushima-sea-water-reactor-194/http://rt.com/op-edge/tepco-fukushima-sea-water-reactor-194/http://rt.com/op-edge/tepco-fukushima-sea-water-reactor-194/http://rt.com/op-edge/tepco-fukushima-sea-water-reactor-194/http://rt.com/op-edge/tepco-fukushima-sea-water-reactor-194/http://rt.com/op-edge/tepco-fukushima-sea-water-reactor-194/http://rt.com/op-edge/tepco-fukushima-sea-water-reactor-194/


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Thisaerialview, taken by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the Air Photo Service on March

20, 2011 shows Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant at

Okuma town in Fukushima prefecture. (AFP Photo)

RT:The clean-up was previously on Tepco alone. Why didn't the governmentstepin

earlier? Rectifying an accident like the one at Fukushima needs a comprehensive

approach, doesn't it?HW: The problem is that the company does not want to admit how serious this is and

the government of Japan doesnt want to admit how serious this is. And even if the

government of Japan steps in, they dont know what to do. This particular

administration in Japan wants to open the other nuclear plants. 50 nuclear plants have

been shut in Japan since the accident and they want to reopen them. This is very

political, because if they admit to how bad the things are in Fukushima the public is not

going to stand for them re opening other nuclear plants, including some that are owned

by Tokyo Electric Power. How do you have a huge utility company on one hand saying

that we cant control all these 300 tons of radioactive liquid going into the Pacific Oceanevery day, and on the other hand we want you to let us open these other nuclear

reactors? This is a catastrophe for them and thats why they have been lying about it

because they want to open other nuclear plants but they dont want the public to know

how serious the damage is in Fukushima.
http://rt.com/op-edge/japan-fukushima-contamination-environment-229/http://rt.com/op-edge/japan-fukushima-contamination-environment-229/http://rt.com/op-edge/japan-fukushima-contamination-environment-229/http://rt.com/op-edge/japan-fukushima-contamination-environment-229/http://rt.com/op-edge/japan-fukushima-contamination-environment-229/http://rt.com/op-edge/japan-fukushima-contamination-environment-229/http://rt.com/op-edge/japan-fukushima-contamination-environment-229/http://rt.com/op-edge/japan-fukushima-contamination-environment-229/


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