TEPCO exec tells DPJ Fukushima plant not under control

It is under control; it isn't under control; it is under control; it isn't under control...

she loves me; she loves me not...

Make up your minds!

Of course the Fukushima Plant isn't under control.

If it was under control, there wouldn't be daily headlines like, "Reactor Emitting Steam," "300 Tonnes of Radioactive Water Leaked."

When Abe said that the situation was under control, he was either misinformed or lying.

I wonder which it is.

Would some please tell us exactly what is happening so that we can have a clear understanding of how to live our lives, our children know what to eat and drink, we they can and can't go on school trips, and so on. This is not a joke people!!! The only thing being controlled is the life and death (mostly death) of he next generation of Japan. So cut the BS and tell us what to do before it is too late!

Fukushima's sole authority TEPCO says it's out of control whereas Japanese PM Shinzo Abe had said it is under control? Olymics between TEPCO and Govt?

If Fukushima is brought under control, i.e. neutralize the radiation with sulfur. All but Iodine sulfate, radioactive or not. Fukushima is not Godzilla, and those who will die so slowly need not die. The reactors, the land, the sea, even the people can be protected from the damage of radiation exposure and repair the damage already done, to man and fish, birds, it sulfates out of all of the bodies, its biology. Considering no other ideas suggest a solution possibly this off the wall idea could work, remember Fukushima is not Godzilla.

seems as though TEPCO are the only ones who don't realise it isn't under control..... when is someone going to take control of them????

Would some please tell us exactly what is happening so that we can have a clear understanding of how to live our lives, our children know what to eat and drink, we they can and can't go on school trips, and so on. This is not a joke people!!! The only thing being controlled is the life and death (mostly death) of he next generation of Japan. So cut the BS and tell us what to do before it is too late!

I think, if they really let what was happening be known, there would be mass-panic and mass-exodus from the region!

The sad thing is that the people are the cannon-fodder in this war of misinformation. As long as they are kept in place, going to school, farming the land and smiling, it looks like everything, apart from a small area around the plant is OK.

Do you believe that?

They're right!

“I think the current situation is that it is not under control"

Oh really? Thanks for letting us know. Well done. Now put your excellent observational skills to use and do something about it.

When people lie time and time again, it is hard to know or believe the truth

Ah doesn't matter. The important thing is Tokyo got the Olympics

Under control.... temporary solution to store waste water.... how temporary ??? No long term plans for the waste water problem No definitive plan on decommissioning No idea how ground water got into the reactor building Best idea is to freeze the ground .... in two years to stop ground water coming in. How badly damaged is the reactors ? who knows..... Did they replace the emergency batteries and generators and place them is a "safe" place? ??? Can the damaged structures take another major hit? who knows. Depending on the meaning of "under control" is..... the odds are against it. I'm not even sure if there are good odds that these reactors will make it to the Olympics before a major problem.

I wonder if the Olympic committee is wondering if they can change their votes at this late stage?

What a bunch of back-peddling two-faced lying expletives! Everyone knew the situation was far from under control, but Abe kept stating it was. The waste water is and has always been the major issue and to have Abr come out and straight up lie about it is disgusting! How much longer are the people of Japan gonna put up with this BS? The IOC should take the Olympics off Japan.

"under control;not under control; actually it it is under control but water spot is out of control;" which language you are talking in i am getting crazy? do not play with words and do not play with the nation either

Sure it's all under control so Abe go and live there in Fukushima to show us all how under control the radiation situation really is!! Actions not only empty words like a real samurai!!

Easy quick answer, evacuate. They have four nuclear reactors that are in a meltdown mode. Of course Japanese government know this, but they also know, they have no place to go (if you're Japanese with no immigration papers). So in a way, I can understand why they're trying to pretend that everything's fine. But what's inexcusable is their bid for the Olympics, knowing full well Japan is in no shape to stage these games. But they're still inviting world citizens and the athletes to radiation exposure.

Would some please tell us exactly what is happening so that we can have a clear understanding of how to live our lives, our children know what to eat and drink, we they can and can't go on school trips, and so on. This is not a joke people!!! The only thing being controlled is the life and death (mostly death) of he next generation of Japan. So cut the BS and tell us what to do before it is too late!

It is very clearly NOT under control; the only thing under control about the company is that they jointly try to make it SEEM under control -- and even those seems have leaks.

As far the Olympics is concerned- Fukushima is under control- it will never affect the Olympics (too far away)- Chernobyl isn't under control- the place is a mess with concrete entombment falling apart and no money to do anything- is the Olympic Committee asking is it under control- no.

Thier definition of under control does not in any way or form meet any sort of true criteria known to others as 'under control'. A ballbearing on the top of a tin can on its side is NO definition of stable, control or, obviously, under. Essentially, if we're being honest, a lie. Dishonest Abe.

How about the press start reporting the kids that have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer? Yes, they are showing up already. Under control, what exactly is under control apart from the J media not asking the hard questions of it's leaders. That starts with NHK, oh yeah they are Abe controlled. Okay, private media?

It's called a "meltdown". Doesn't it mean that "it" is melting "down"? Emitting such tremendous heat, perpetually? It can only seem to be "in control" if there was a bottom to it. And then sides. To box it in. Then, cooling it. I mean walls of lead, without a lid (in the beginning, anyway).

I'm just glad someone let slip the fact that they do really think it isn't under control. Anyone can tell from the news that it isn't under control, and it was getting very stressful to be told it was under control when it obviously wasn't.

Sometimes I think Abe didn't realize the full meaning of "under control" in English. (his speech was made in English) He might have meant to say "we're taking care of it" which they may think they are doing, to the best of their abilities. But "under control" has a whole different meaning, which would be a situation in which there were no leaking radiation reports daily, no spikes in radiation nearby or out in the ocean, no fastly increasing numbers of tanks holding tons and tons of radioactive water.

BertieWooster "When Abe was asked whether the situation was under control, he was either misinformed or lying"

Misinformed, highly unlikely

Not only is in not under control, but no one knows how to bring it under control. No one, none of the experts world wide. We don't have the technology to begin to bring it under control. Why does this surprise anyone. Even Chernobyl, is not under control and we don't know how to bring it under control. We have no technology to bring it under control. It is criminal not to close dow ever nuclear plant in the world.Even here in the United States we are having accidents and break down one after another and we are down playing them. That will not stop them from getting worse nor doing their damage. But we must keep the profits going, plus we will make money off of the disasters, the cleans ups and make money even off the health issue caused by this. So why stop a good profitable thing? So people suffer that is the price of the profits. Only the profits matter.

It is criminal not to close dow ever nuclear plant in the world.

But closing them down still won't solve the problem of their existence... we can never erase the existence of this material we have created.

I have no solutions for what to do with existing plants, but one thing I know: there is nothing stupider than building new ones.

Ah doesn't matter. The important thing is Tokyo got the Olympics

lol. Unfortunately, that is exactly what many Japanese think. Oh, now we've got the Olympics it's going to help the economy and that will mean more money to spend on Fukushima and Tohoku, and everything's just going to be hunky dory so I don't need to worry about it anymore.

Now don't get me wrong, I love Japan, and I love the people, but it really scares the crap out of me that a good majority of the population are so deluded by hype and lies spewed out by the government. How can people NOT be angry by this? The group-think-blindly-follow-the-leader mentality is actually quite disturbing. Abe should not, CANNOT be trusted - and unfortunately I can't think of anyone in the government that can. Yet instead of demanding accountability, people believe his empty promises. If they believe this crap, imagine what they'd be willing to believe in a time of war.

PapaS,

Indeed, the country is TOO EASILY led, history has shown us that & that aspect of Japanese is still highly ingrained today, we saw a good side of it after 3/11.

BUT as you correctly pointed out there is also a DARK side to this trait, have to watch out for that one for sure!

When Abe said that the situation was under control, he was either misinformed or lying.

I'll take a guess

The waste water is the biggest problem, but for a worse reason than people think. The biggest problem is that the ground around the plants is now wet enough for liquefaction and the buildings could collapse. This means they want to freeze the ground, largely to protect against subsidence, and start removing the spent fuel rods. This is normally done by computer, but the Japanese will attempt it manually, despite the fact that no one can approch the spent fuel for more than a few minutes because of the incredible radiation levels there. This plant could still go bang, either due to subsidence, or to an error in the extremely difficult process of moving the fuel rods. Mr. Abe stood up and told the world that this situation is "under control", when it quite clearly isn't. Mr. Abe is a serial liar though, and this was just his most recent whopper.

It is not under control. That sounds like the first true statement in months or maybe years!

Sounds like another of Sir Humphrey's irregular verbs (from Yes Minister):

I am stable

You need constant cooling

He/ She/ It is an out of control disaster...

I think the current situation is that it is not under control

Although this statement looks OK on the surface its actually quite stupid because he says 'I think' where the facts actually tell us with no doubt that is definitely not in control, its not a matter of conjecture or speculation. The only speculation is how out of control it is or is it that they won't reveal how bad it really is or that they have absolutely no idea.

I think it is time that the US government steps in to control the situation. Decisive actions need to be taken to stop all these nonsense and the Japanese would definitely not like the Russians or Chinese to help. So there you are good old America, go do your thing and help save the Olympic.

How could it be under control when it is under the control of TEPCO and the Japanese regulators? They were criminally negligent before, during and now after this man-made disaster.

I can't believe that this whole thing is still not under control.

Problem is that by denying, one does not seek help because of the feeling of shame and guilt But this is not leadership because meantime, the citizens you lead suffer. Wish that the authorities of the day realize that nuke accidents are no ordinary calamities whose effects are only limited to the boundaries of the nations where the accident takes place, and the swifter they unreservedly seek help wherever it is, the quicker they will save more lives and the better for the whole world.

Asian2013 I think it is time that the US government steps in to control the situation. Decisive actions need to be taken to stop all these nonsense and the Japanese would definitely not like the Russians or Chinese to help. So there you are good old America, go do your thing and help save the Olympic.

What?

it's the ol' controlling the message not under control trick

he was talking specifically about the plant’s waste water problem, and not the facility’s situation in general.

It is all or nothing, if one problem is out of control then the entire thing is out of control. You can't just casually ignore one part and say "everything is okay, cept for that one thing".

Abe just proved he lied through his teeth.

Lies are coming out of frustration and a complete sense of helplessness. Yes, people say the Japanese lie and avoid confrontation by turning a blind eye, but I feel the real problem here is the lack of ideas to solve this quickly and effectively.

The water is one thing, but the telling factor is removing the fuel rods later this year. I just hope that they have some "experts" that are well-trained, not just the temporary workers. The rods have to be removed and the cost -human life- is great.

Complacency has got them into this mess by building the reactor close to the ocean which has had some huge tsunamis in the past.

I've aways held the Japanese, along with the Germans and British, in high regard as far as workmanship has gone, but there has been unbelievable stories of poor workmanship over the past 2.5 years. The situation is so far out of their hands that it can't possibly be "under control".

Want to know what's going on at Fukushima?

Read this: http://rt.com/op-edge/fukushima-radiation-threat-level-288/

The water tanks are an on purpose distraction (one they can't hide anyway, there's about 1,000 of them and they're building madly!).

The real 'water' issue is that the water they're dumping daily under the 3 reactors, is onto molten cores of each, deep into the ground. The waste water pumped back out and into the (leaky) tanks is the excess that doesn't simply get absorbed into the ground and down into the water table.

Today, timed roughly with the steam, there was a spike in tested groundwater radiation levels of 50,000 Bq.... per liter!

It was time, two years ago, when Japan should have appealed to the world's help at the UN to help contain this. Two years later, they're still trying to go it alone. Make no mistake about it, this problem is definitely not an easy fix for all the nuclear industry experts around the world, let alone the just the Japanese. It is no shame to ask for help. Russia alone, has experience in this, they could have given the Japanese, important tips and ideals. Americans are the ones who built the plants, they could have been valuable help, since they are one of the most powerful nuclear technology in the world. Picking thousands of brains around the world, is far better than picking few brains (or whatever that's there) at TEPCO. Professionalism is lacking because of Japan's pride. But ironically, the more they go it alone, the more incompetent and hapless they look to the world - thus more damaging to their reputation to the world which they are desperately trying to protect.

Nobody's going to fault Japan to get world's help. Will Japan wake up in time?

Nobody's going to fault Japan to get world's help. Will Japan wake up in time?

Well, they might, if something could have been done 2 years ago, that can now no longer be done because it has all gone too far. I can see why anyone would be reluctant to ask for help under those circumstances. Who is going to take the fall?

Another scenario no-one wants to think about: What if there is no 'in time' and what is going on up there is actually beyond help? Who would want to admit to, or face that one?

Francis Urquhart, good points. It could be already too late. If Japan could have asked for help two years ago, something could have been done then, that can't be done now.

But who knows, there could still be something that can be done. Unless Japan gives it a chance, it's no worse and still better than trying to go it alone.

@chucky3176

it's no worse and still better than trying to go it alone.

In our eyes, and our way of thinking, that's true. But the Japanese don't think that way, and in their eyes it's failure and shame (we are led to believe, if we accept the 'traditional' outsider's view of the Japanese). I suspect that the shoddy state of the plant and bad safety practices before and after the accident would become apparent if outsiders were truly allowed to see inside the facility. No-one wants to have to take responsibility for that, and Japan thinks so highly of itself it doesn't want fingers being pointed by the rest of the world. I suppose the Olympic bid also had a far amount to do with keeping it all quiet. But this isn't a game and the results could be catastrophic if this isn't handled properly, assuming it can be handled at all...

Oh look! We've been thumbed down!

The solution to this problem is staring people in the face. It is an unpalatable one. Things must be allowed to take their natural course. Let me explain.

The methodology that exists to deal with this catastrophe seems to emphasis its wildfire characteristics. It is clearly not a fire, and not an atomic one as well. The uncontrolled nuclear cores want to fission and right away. At Chernobyl this happened and the results were terrible. It could have been a lot worse. Once the cores overheat and explode, a small % of the harmful radioactive material available is dispersed.

Due to the mitigation efforts at Fukishima this is not being allowed to happen. All of the available core is being allowed to contaminate the environment.

well.......... there were 3 meltdowns,multiple hydrogen explosions releasing large amounts of radiation, all containment lost, hundreds of thousands of Tonnes of waste water being stored in faulty tanks that are rated for only five years but are already leaking with cement footings that had no rebar in to strengthen them,spent fuel pools on the top floors of buildings that we nor robots can enter because of the extreme radiation,and chemically frozen dam that water is now ready to overflow ,liquifaction happening because of all the water on the land which could cause the buildings that house the rods to sink and cause the spent fuel pools to empty, allowing uncontrollable heating of the rods that could cause a explosion like nothing man has seen before,continued leaks that are basically unstoppable,radiation spreading by the ocean and the winds that blow straight to Hawaii then onto Alaska,Canada, and the west coast, water evaporating and coming down as acid rain and tainting the ground that all of our food grows in,grass and corn that cows eat, and every marine animal in the food chain in the pacific ocean being affected along with bioaccumulation is happening when small fish eat plankton,then big fish eat smaller fish and then we eat the big fish multiplying the amount of radiation that you receive, Japanese fisherman and anyone else associated with the fish market having to decide whether to go broke and starve, or sell the tainted fish on all of the worlds markets just by relabeling where it came from all on and island that has earthquakes regularly and is obviously suxceptible to tsunamis where it might take 40 years or so to fully decommision the plant and hoping the whole time that another large earthquake happens in the next 40 years........ But...... other than that, I think they have everything under control, but please inform me if I am wrong with any of my facts!!

@branden dais

I think they have everything under control, but please inform me if I am wrong with any of my facts!!

Sure, liquefaction is not cause by volume of liquid, it is caused by vibration. Hence you get liquefaction during earthquakes. You might be thinking of "waterlogged", which is different.

water evaporating and coming down as acid rain and tainting the ground that all of our food grows in,grass and corn that cows eat, and every marine animal in the food chain in the pacific ocean being affected along with bioaccumulation is happening when small fish eat plankton,then big fish eat smaller fish and then we eat the big fish multiplying the amount of radiation that you receive

Not sure about the reference to "acid rain", you get acid rain when SO2 and NO in the atmosphere dissolve and fall with rain. SO2 and NO are usually a resut of burning fossil fuels. It is no less an issue to what we have here in Fukushima, but no one actually cares about it to the same degree. So, a good point to bring up generally speakin, but not relevant here.

hoserfella,

Ah doesn't matter. The important thing is Tokyo got the Olympics

So far, yes.

But whether Tokyo gets to actually host the Olympics or not depends very much on what happens over the next few years.

No country is going to want to send a team of its top athletes for them to come back glowing in the dark.

But, it appears that Shinzo Abe, the leader of Japan knows something that even TEPCO, the operator of the failed plants, doesn't. And, that is exactly where the tragedy lies..