November 13: Day of Destruction?

November 13 is the day when Tepco begins removing 1535 fuel rods from the Fukushima site.  If any two of the rods touch it could cause a nuclear reaction that would be uncontrollable. The risk of touching is high.  The rods are in a badly damaged pool perched 100 feet in the air.  The building containing the rods is tilting, sinking and could easily come down in the next earthquake, if not on its own.

Perhaps the most serious risk is that Tepco will be removing the rods. Tepco's performance has been miserable throughout the past 2+ years.  Its protection of the plant was totally inadequate. They have yet to stop radioactive water overflowing from another part of the facility.  While the government of Japan has taken some steps to control the situation, by and large they've ceded control to Tepco in building the plant, operating the plant and recovering the plant.

International action has to be taken.  The risks are too high to let a demonstrably ineffective company and government run the show when a mistake could wipe out a good part of the world.