Chernobyl Expert Says Greed May Lead to Big Trouble in Japan

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/chernobyl_expert_says_greed_may_lead_20110315/

Corporate interests might have played a big part in the design and maintenance of Japan’s nuclear complex at Fukushima, according to Russian nuclear accident expert Iouli Andreev, who knows a thing or two from Chernobyl’s example—and who called the International Atomic Energy Agency “a fake organization.” —KA

Reuters:

Andreev said a fire which released radiation on Tuesday involving spent fuel rods stored close to reactors at Fukushima looked like an example of putting profit before safety:

“The Japanese were very greedy and they used every square inch of the space. But when you have a dense placing of spent fuel in the basin you have a high possibility of fire if the water is removed from the basin,” Andreev said.

The IAEA should share blame for standards, he said, arguing it was too close to corporations building and running plants. And he dismissed an emergency incident team set up by the Vienna-based agency as “only a think-tank not a working force”:


More at the link --

[LaurenG]

1. Do you think the US will try to learn from Japan's experience?

I wish we the people could do something rather then relying on slimy republican congress people. They aren't going to move a muscle to change a damn thing unless it puts more $$ in their cronies pockets either.

[cui bono]

2. I don't think the US needs lessons in corporate greed.

;)

[Donnachaidh]

3. no. TPTB are fully vested in ramming nukes down our throats

How many millions were given to Obama by the nuke crowd?

[Uben]

Corporations are people, too........

....well, if you are a scumbag piece of RW shit supreme court justice, they are.

[JBoy]

4. There's something to this.

I thought it was particularly stupid to have the spent fuel pool on the roof of the reactor. Gravity is usually not your friend in the event of an earthquake or a power failure. They only reason to do that would be to save on real estate.

One of the smartest attributes of the Canadian CANDU reactor design is that the control rods that stop the nuclear reaction will descend into place by force of gravity in the event of a total power failure. In that case, gravity was enlisted as an ally.

[JuniperLea]

5. They also delayed using sea water to cool the reactors...

Which renders them unusable forever after. Once you go sea water, you can never use a reactor again... it appears to me they waited a hell of a long time.

[snappyturtle]

6. Another aspect of greed....when it was evident that getting coolant to

the reactors was a big problem, why the reluctance to use salt water? It seemed to me there was a big delay in FINALLY deciding to use salt water and lose the cash cow(s) reactors in the process.