Even though news of the Fukushima nuclear disaster languishes in the minor columns of major newspapers these days, the drama continues to unfold toward an ever darkening and uncertain conclusion.

It came as no surprise yesterday, when Tokyo Electric Power Co. finally conceded that fission most likely continues to occur at at least one of the damaged Fukushima reactors. As our readers will recall, Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Associates predicted as much, months ago.  

If active monitoring suggests it is occurring in Reactor 2, there is increasing probability that it may also be occurring at one or more of the other damaged reactors at the site, where detailed measurements have yet to be undertaken.

The picture now painted by TEPCO is of a far graver situation than has been officially conceded up to now.

Junichi Matsumoto, a Tokyo Electric spokesman, acknowledged episodes of fission, telling a news conference: “There is a possibility that certain conditions came together temporarily that were conducive to re-criticality,” and that the measurements indicated a burst that occurred at a slightly higher rate than prior cases. “It’s not that we’ve had zero fission until now,” Mr. Matsumoto said. “But at this point, we do not think there is a large-scale and self-sustained re-criticality.”

The suspicion is that fissionable material has melted through the bottom of both the reactor and the containment, and is now essentially free in the environment, recombining in such a way as to intermittently initiate critical reactions without the possibility of human or mechanical intervention to stop them.

Under these circumstances, more and more radioactive byproducts will continue to be released freely into the soil and even the groundwater.   Though Arnie hypothesized that this might be happening, it was officially never even entertained as a possibility until now.

While this development  is frightening enough, what has to be even more disturbing is the fact that every semblance of official certainty has been dropped and it is now generally being acknowledged that there is no way of knowing exactly what is happening, how serious the situation will become; and when and how it will all end.

Hiroaki Koide, assistant professor at Kyoto University’s Research Reactor Institute, was quoted by the New York Times as saying:

If episodes of fission at Fukushima were confirmed… “our entire understanding of nuclear safety would be turned on its head.”

Meanwhile…back to the human side of the story, there is new evidence that “hot particles” from the Fukushima accident(s) have been far more widely dispersed than originally admitted.  

A new Fairewinds video discusses data from  a study by Scientist Marco Kaltofan that looked at the distribution of those particles  in various regions of  Japan; and even as far away as Seattle and Boston.  In Japan, that distribution of hot particles followed unanticipated patterns, spreading contamination far and wide.  

The clean-up protocols in use throughout Japan are spotty, and less than effective.  Furthermore,  Mr. Kaltofan’s paper demonstrates conclusively how inadequate the current evacuation zones are that currently govern emergency response, both here and in Japan.

Scientist Marco Kaltofen Presents Data Confirming Hot Particles from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.