more Fukushima worries

Christian Science Monitor gives a quick overview.

Here's how Fukushima looks on Google Maps.   Looks like this pic was before the tsunami.

Here's how it looks from a recent arial view.    Look at the rows of holding tanks for all the radioactive waste water.    More than 1000 tanks built so far, apparently.   And pretty concentrated radioactivity, I guess.

Those tanks don't look so big, do they?   Take a closer look.









And they leak when there's too much rain.

So is that the biggest worry?   Nope!    The biggest worry is this:

 TEPCO is slated to begin removing the spent fuel rods from Reactor Unit 4 in November
If a fuel rod is dropped, breaks or becomes entangled while being removed, possible worst case scenarios include a big explosion, a meltdown in the pool, or a large fire. Any of these situations could lead to massive releases of deadly radionuclides into the atmosphere, putting much of Japan — including Tokyo and Yokohama — and even neighboring countries at serious risk.    source

How bad would it be?

One anti-nuke scientist in Boston says she's evacuating to the southern hemisphere if the spent pool collapses.   LINK 

What to do?  I guess I could buy some Potassium Iodide tablets, just to survive a few months longer in case of a disaster...   I'll think about it.

10/6/2013 Update: Fukushima worker accidentally switches off cooling pumps, backup kicks in "Hey, what's this button do?"

10/9/2013 Udate: Fukushima worker accidentally contaminates 6 co-workers when he moves a contaminated pipe. Apologizes most respectfully.