Ever since Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant was struck by a Tsunami and an Earthquake back in March 2011 it has been crippled to a state of near-meltdown. Fukushima today acts as the most prominent argument against Nuclear technology as Chernobyl did pre-2011. Japanese TEPCO employees have had to pour water over the spent fuel rods for the last 2 years to prevent over-heating that might lead to another meltdown or even a chain reaction. The consequences of the “worst case scenario” would indeed have international consequences as radiation fallout obeys no borders.
That is why Russia have offered to come to the help of Japan in their TEPCO crisis. Russia have become international field leaders in decommissioning nuclear power plants after the Chernobyl disaster gave them ample experience. Eco News report that Vladimir Asmolov, first deputy director general of Rosenergoatom – the state-owned Russian nuclear utility, has extended a helping hand to TEPCO.
“In our globalised nuclear industry we don’t have national accidents, they are all international,” Mr Asmolov told Bloomberg news agency. “It was clear for a long time that TEPCO was not adequately coping with the situation…It looks like TEPCO management were the last to realise this.”
Japan’s Fukushima crisis is being labelled as the world’s most serious Nuclear incident since Chernobyl. Experts say it is significantly more serious because the amount of nuclear fuel involved is much higher. Levels of radiation in close-by water sources are already unsafe for human habitation. The government had evacuated everyone in a 20km radius of the site but that no go zone is being gradually lifted as radiation levels start to fall.
Image courtesy of Reuters
