China Syndrome at Fukushima?

China Syndrome at Fukushima?

from The Diplomat by Hiroki Ogawa

Back in April, concerns arose over contamination found in the groundwater surrounding the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant. At the time, the source of the contamination hadn’t been narrowed down. The possibility was raised that the contamination came from airborne particles captured and brought down by rain, or from runoff water sprayed onto the reactors to cool them. TEPCO skirted around the suggestion that nuclear fuel had melted through the reactor containment vessel and had begun doing the same through the concrete floor underneath. With good reason—this situation, also called ‘China syndrome’ (after the 1979 thriller film of the same name), where the nuclear fuel melts down into the earth, has been described as the worst possible nuclear accident. China syndrome fortunately hasn’t occurred in real life. But this means that all there is is speculation about what would actually happen if China syndrome really did occur. And there does appear to ... Read More...