Land Of The Rising Core Temperature, Part 44

Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, still a massive problem, still under-reported by our Village betters, still every data point we get on the extent of the disaster is "worse than previously thought."  And now some eight months plus after the accident, we get a clearer picture.

Molten nuclear fuel at Japan’s Fukushima plant might have eaten two thirds of the way through a concrete containment base, its operator said, citing a new simulation of the extent of the March disaster.

Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) said their latest calculations showed the fuel inside the No. 1 reactor at the tsunami-hit plant could have melted entirely, dropping through its inner casing and eroding a concrete base.

In the worst-case scenario, the molten fuel could have reached as far as 65 centimetres (2 feet) through the concrete, leaving it only 37 centimetres short of the outer steel casing, the report, released Wednesday, said.

Until now, TEPCO had said some fuel melted through the inner pressure vessel and dropped to the containment vessel, without saying how much and what it did to the concrete, citing a lack of data.

“Almost no fuel remains at its original position,” TEPCO said in the report.

And we'll find out of course eight months from now that this "worst case scenario" was exceeded by reality.  This stuff doesn't cool off overnight, folks.  Remember, we took TEPCO's word that there was no meltdown originally, then a partial meltdown, now yeah, this stuff ate through two feet of concrete possibly and enough has gotten out into the Japanese countryside to seriously poison the surrounding area.  Yeah, this is the nightmare that just will not stop.

Meanwhile, 8% of Japan's land mass is contaminated by radiation.  That's just what they're admitting to.

That trillion dollar estimate of mine still stands.