The storage pool in the No. 4 reactor building has a total of 1,535 fuel rods, or 460 tons of nuclear fuel, in it. The 7-story building itself has suffered great damage, with the storage pool barely intact on the building’s third and fourth floors.
An international coalition of nuclear scientists and non-profit groups are calling on the U.N. to coordinate a multi-national effort to stabilize the fuel pools of Fukushima.
After visiting Fukushima, Senator Ron Wyden warned that the situation was worse than reported; Many nuclear scientists and non-profit groups continue to urge Japan to accept international help to stabilize the dangerous spent fuel pools.
The structural integrity of the damaged Unit 4 reactor building has long been a major concern among experts because a collapse of its spent fuel cooling pool could cause a disaster worse than the three reactor meltdowns. There is more cesium in Unit 4 fuel pool than in all 800 nuclear bombs ever exploded above ground globally.
Fuel pool number 4 is indeed, the top short-term threat facing humanity according to these reports.
Black Listed News has the story.
