Few in the United States have heard of Typhoon Songda. That is a very good sign. Typhoon Songda approached the Philippines as a super typhoon, the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean. Its projected track would have taken it near to the Fukushima nuclear facility in Japan, the site of at least three reactor meltdowns in the wake of a tsunami.

The typhoon lost all its energy, however, and just brought heavy rain the Japanese home islands. The difference, winds of over 150 mph vs. winds of less than 40 mph. The heavily damaged reactors at Fukushima were unprepared for a super typhoon.

The six reactors at the Fukushima site have faded from the news since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami struck Japan. The site has not become any less dangerous and the fix appears months if not years away. The site is unprepared for another earthquake or tsunami, and unprepared for any typhoon activity. In the 53 years from 1951 to 2004 Japan averaged 2.6 typhoons making landfall each year. [ yahoo ]

Reactors 1-3 have experienced partial or total meltdowns, with the reactor containment vessel breached and some or all of the molten nuclear material falling to the floor of the basement underneath. The masses continue to experience fission and generate heat despite the vast amounts of water being applied for cooling. Water in and around the buildings ranges from mildly to highly radioactive and is leaking into the sea.

Power has been restored to the site and controls and water pumps but the supply is vulnerable. Some of the work done is not permanent, and there is a general power shortage throughout the western portion of the island of Honshu. The power supply could be interrupted by storms.

Four of the reactor buildings are open to the air. Hydrogen gas explosions after the tsunami have ripped the structures around Reactors 1-4 apart. The area is littered with debris, some of which is radioactive. The heavy rains from former Typhoon Songda caused some of the leakage into the sea as there were no roofs to prevent the rain entering structures.

The Fukushima site remains a serious problem. Efforts to enclose the damaged reactor buildings are a priority. Finding a way to cool the masses of uranium fuel in the reactor basements will require innovative and possibly dangerous solutions. Mother Nature may not cooperate.