Fukushima: Reactor 2 Upset Reactor 4 Getting More Attention; Smokes With Rage

Smoke emanating from the ground south of Reactor 2.  I'm sure it's OK..  After all, TEPCO's got it all under control..  Fukushima Diary:

This is not sea-fog.


White gas was observed spouting out from south of reactor2 on 9/4/2012.
It had started already around 10:57 and ended about 11:15. 

Video and close up video (from four days ago) at the link.  Simple question:  What caused the smoke?

Bonus nuclear excitement right here in America:

Senior Advisor: Mystery bacteria growing on nuclear fuel rods have unknown DNA sequence — “Right now we are trying to figure out what they’re using for food”

Tsuruga Nuke Plant Reactor 2 May Have Been Sitting on Top of Active Fault All These Years

Like Fukushima and that new petrochemical fire, today's discovery is not terribly surprising; Just terrible.  EX-SKF.  Excerpts:

As the mayor of Tsuruga City was strongly promoting nuclear power generation in the county in China that has a nuclear power plant with 6 operating reactors and 4 under construction, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency warned the operator of Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant that Reactor 2 of the plant may be sitting on an active fault.



Even in Japan, the national guideline is not expecting a reactor to be built on top of an active fault.
And:
On April 24, an expert in active faults and officials from the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) studied the area where the strata are exposed at JAPC's Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant in Tsuruga City in Fukui Prefecture. They particularly looked at the crack called "fracture zone".



As the result, the expert pointed out that the crack that runs underground at about 150 meters west of Reactor 2 "may be an active fault, and it may move together with the active fault called Urazoko Fault that runs through the compound, making the shaking from an earthquake bigger than anticipated".


There is another crack that runs right beneath Reactor 2. It needs to be studied to determine if it is also an active fault. NISA has instructed JAPC to do the survey again.

When it comes to Japan's nuclear capabilities, this doesn't feel like the last colossal fuck up we'll  hear about, now does it?  Unsafe and unstable safety policies applied to substances that require the highest standards of safety and stability is a terrible path to follow, and the country of Japan probably has several more examples..  The question then being:  Can Earth handle it?
 
Related:  What shoe drops next?

Fukushima at Increased Earthquake Risk, Scientists Report

An old fault line reactivates almost right underneath Fukushima?  Not awesome.  Really Not Awesome, considering Reactors 2 and 4 seem to be much worse than thought.  The only ingredient missing for Catastrophe is a 7.0 or greater quake.  According to the article, there's a 70 percent chance of that happening this year, and a 98 percent chance of that happening in the next three years.

Not If.  Only When.