Dilution of radioactive materials at sea is no solution to nuke-plant crisis
Whispers have emerged that Prime Minister Naoto Kan is prepared to dissolve the House of Representatives and face a general election over the issue of whether Japan should abolish nuclear power. To me, mere talk of such an issue is the ultimate example of the blurred vision at Japan's political center.
There is nothing wrong with asking the public whether nuclear power is right or not, but now is a time of national emergency -- a time when officials should be putting full effort into bringing the nuclear crisis in Fukushima under control and preventing environmental contamination. There isn't time now to leisurely debate mid- and long-term government policies, haggle over the dissolution of the chamber and become engrossed in election campaign strategies.
The reason for the situation comes from politicians' delusion, grounded in their idea that the nuclear crisis is somehow being brought under control, and that the effects from radioactive material are minimal. But the fact is, the situation at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant isn't returning to normal. And we still don't know just how much damage environmental pollution from the crisis will inflict on people and their DNA. There is no proof anywhere that this pollution will be harmless.
Some of the reactors at the nuclear power plant have melted down, and the melted nuclear fuel is sinking toward water under the ground. An underground barrier is needed to stop water that becomes contaminated from flowing into the sea. Experts have pointed out the urgency of the situation and the government supports the idea, but Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the crisis-hit nuclear plant, is saying "wait…"
(Mainichi Japan) June 27, 2011
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20110627p2a00m0na004000c.html