Experts warn of nuclear fire at Fukushima

Updated June 25, 2012 20:17:00

Much has been made of the meltdowns in reactors one, two and three at Fukushima, less of the precarious state of the fuel storage pool in reactor four. Experts have told the ABC that another large earthquake like that which caused the damaged pool to drain could spark a catastrophic nuclear fire which would release ten times the amount of radioactive material that was emitted during the Chernobyl disaster.

Mark Willacy

Source: PM | Duration: 5min 49sec

Topics: disasters-and-accidents, nuclear-accident, nuclear-issues, pollution, water-pollution, japan

Transcript

MARK COLVIN: It's being described as a global catastrophe waiting to happen; a pool brimming with hundreds of tonnes of spent nuclear fuel rods perched 30 metres above the ground in a shattered building next to a damaged reactor.

Much has been made of the meltdowns in reactors one, two and three at Fukushima, less of the precarious state of the fuel storage pool in reactor four.

Japanese and US nuclear experts have told the ABC that another large earthquake which caused the damaged pool to drain, could spark a catastrophic nuclear fire. That would likely release 10 times more radioactive caesium than was emitted during the Chernobyl disaster.

The operator TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) says the pool, which contains 1,500 nuclear fuel assemblies, is stable and can withstand another large quake. But the company admits that it has no way of removing the rods right now because all its vital equipment is damaged beyond repair.