Wall St Journal, Oct. 23, 2014 (emphasis added): One major volcanic eruption could make Japan “extinct,” a study by experts at Kobe University warns… “We should be aware… It wouldn’t be a surprise if such gigantic eruption were to take place at any moment.”
Japan Times, Oct. 24, 2014: Colossal volcanic eruption could destroy Japan at any time: study — Japan could be nearly destroyed by a volcanic eruption over the next century that would put nearly all of its population of 127 million people at risk… “It is not an overstatement to say that a colossal volcanic eruption would leave Japan extinct as a country,” Kobe University earth sciences professor Yoshiyuki Tatsumi and associate professor Keiko Suzuki said… A disaster on Kyushu… would see an area with 7 million people buried by flows of lava and molten rock in just two hours [and] making nearly the entire country “unlivable”… It would be “hopeless” trying to save about 120 million…
Japan Times, Oct. 24, 2014: Volcano near Sendai nuclear plant is shaking and may erupt… Authorities warned on Friday that a volcano a few dozen kilometers from the Sendai nuclear plant… may erupt. It warned people to stay away… Ioyama [shows] signs of rising volcanic activity recently, including a tremor lasting as long as seven minutes… the Meteorological Agency’s volcano division said… [T]he area around the crater is dangerous, he added… On Friday, the warning level for the Sakurajima volcano was at 3, which means people should not approach the peak… Experts warn [the] earthquake in March 2011 may have increased the risk of volcanic activity throughout the nation…
Japan Times, Oct 18, 2014: Sendai reactors vulnerable to eruptions [and] could cause a nationwide disaster, said Toshitsugu Fujii, University of Tokyo professor emeritus who heads a government-commissioned panel… [R]egulators ruled out a major eruption… [Fujii] said at best an eruption can be predicted only a matter of hours or days. Studies have shown that pyroclastic flow… at one of the volcanos near the Sendai plant… reached as far as 145 kilometers away, Fujii said. He said a pyroclastic flow from Mount Sakurajima… could easily hit the nuclear plant, which is only 40 kilometers away. Heavy ash falling from an eruption would make it impossible to reach the plant… he said. Many nuclear power plants could be affected…
Asahi Shimbun, May 12, 2014: Now is the time to rethink the risk of operating nuclear power plants… it is the first time that Japan has seriously evaluated… the danger posed by volcanoes… Nuclear power plants… would suffer devastating damage from catastrophic eruptions… radioactive materials will continue to be scattered throughout the world…
University of Tokyo professor Toshitsugu Fujii, head of government panel on eruption prediction: “Scientifically, they’re not safe… If [reactors] still need to be restarted… it’s for political reasons, not because they’re safe, and you should be honest about that.”
See also: Expert: Island off Tokyo 15X larger after huge eruption…pay close attention (VIDEO)
What an interesting prospect.
Of course placing 54 Nuclear Plants on top of the world’s most seismically active tectonic region makes complete sense.
This is nothing more than Russian Roulette on a massive scale involving millions of innocents.
We can of course live in hope that an eruption on this scale just might swallow all 54.
I am with Friend Squodgy. I hope the volcano swallows the entire Fukushima mess…….It is sad, but true, a volcano is our only hope. The experts are always wrong, when they say it will spread the radiation…….I am not so sure. It could as easily bury the whole mess under hot lava, just as one did Pompeii.