Japan’s former Ambassador to Switzerland, Mr. Mitsuhei Murata, was invited to speak at the Public Hearing of the Budgetary Committee of the House of Councilors on March 22, 2012, on the Fukushima nuclear power plants accident.

Before the Committee, Ambassador Murata strongly stated that if the crippled building of reactor unit 4 — with 1,535 fuel rods in the spent fuel pool 100 feet (30 meters) above the ground — collapses, not only will it cause a shutdown of all six reactors but will also affect the common spent fuel pool containing 6,375 fuel rods, located some 50 meters from reactor 4.

In both cases the radioactive rods are not protected by a containment vessel; dangerously, they are open to the air.

The greatest single threat to humanity

This would certainly cause a global catastrophe like we have never before experienced. He stressed that the responsibility of Japan to the rest of the world is immeasurable. Such a catastrophe would affect us all for centuries.

It is no exaggeration to say that the fate of Japan and the whole world depends on NO.4 reactor. This is confirmed by most reliable experts like Dr. Arnie Gundersen or Dr. Fumiaki Koide. Mr. Mitsuhei Murata in a letter to Ban Ki-moon

While the first three reactors contained fuel and presented a serious threat since March 11, 2011, they have largely been contained. Reactor 4 contained no fuel when the earthquake hit. Instead, the spent fuel rods had been moved to a cooling pool on the second floor of the containment unit. The unit suffered enormous damage during the tsunami—a hydrogen explosion blew the roof off, leaving the highly radioactive fuel pool exposed to the open air. If another high level earthquake hits the area, the building will certainly collapse. Japanese and American meteorologists have predicted that such a strong earthquake is indeed likely to hit this year.

The meltdown and unprecedented release of radiation that would ensue is the worst case scenario that then-Prime Minister Kan and other former officials have discussed in the past months. He warned during his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos that such an accident would force the evacuation of the 35 million people in Tokyo, close half of Japan and compromise the nation’s sovereignty. Such a humanitarian and environmental catastrophe is unimaginable. Hiroshi Tasaka, a nuclear engineer and special adviser to Prime Minister Kan immediately following the crisis, said the crisis “just opened Pandora’s Box.” (akiomatsumura.com)

Whole Northern Hemisphere at risk – interview with Dr. Arnie Gundersen

Alex Smith, of Radio Ecoshock, interviewed nuclear industry expert Arnie Gundersen, of Fairewinds Associates. Smith notes that the nuclear accident at Fukushima Japan is far from over as three reactors continue to meltdown. Smith adds that now there is a storm of international worry about nuclear fuel pools tottering in blown up buildings putting the whole Northern Hemisphere at risk.

Gundersen is chief engineer of Fairewinds Associates, an energy consulting company. He previously worked for Nuclear Energy Services in Danbury, a consulting firm where he was a senior vice president. Gundersen holds a master’s degree in nuclear engineering.

Gundersen says it is unlikely there would be an explosion if the #4 Fuel pool collapses. But dangerous “hot” particles would still be sent around the world, because within two days of the collapse, the Zirconium and radioactive metals (like Cesium and Plutonium) would burn at a very high temperature, sending particles high into the air. The result would be an everlasting disaster for Japan. Arnie thinks it could create a no-man’s land 50 miles across the country, perhaps destabilizing the government.

According to Smith, “Arnie Gundersen, a year ago, warned us on Radio Ecoshock, and to anybody who would listen, that a world-scale catastrophe was lurking in the nuclear fuel storage pools of both reactors Three and Four, at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan. Why is this story finally getting wider attention, a year later?”

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