From WSWS –
By Peter Symonds
A confidential assessment of the Fukushima nuclear disaster drawn up by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) paints a far bleaker picture than the limited, sanitised reports being made public by the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and Japanese nuclear authorities. The American document has not been publicly released but was leaked to the New York Times, which published some details on Tuesday.
Three of the six reactors at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi plant were seriously damaged by overheating after their cooling systems failed during the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. In a desperate attempt to prevent a meltdown, TEPCO initially poured salt water into the primary containment vessels of the three reactors and also spent fuel rod pools that were in danger of overheating. Hydrogen gas produced by the oxidation of the zirconium cladding around reactor fuel rods led to a series of explosions that badly damaged reactor buildings.
Current reports from TEPCO, Japan’s nuclear regulator and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) provide little more than day-by-day updates on measures implemented, together with the temperatures and pressures of the three damaged reactors, and some readings of radioactivity in the land and sea around the site. The NRC document, however, points to the ongoing and possible dangers that are clearly being discussed behind closed doors in Japan and internationally. . . (more)
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