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"TEPCO: Melted fuel ate into containment vessel The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has announced the results of an analysis on the state of melted fuel in the plant's Number 1 unit. The Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, and several research institutes made public their analyses on the melting of fuel rods at 3 of the plant's units at a government-sponsored study meeting on Wednesday. The analyses were based on temperatures, amounts of cooling water and other data. TEPCO said that in the worse case, all fuel rods in the plant's Number 1 reactor may have melted and dropped through its bottom into a containment vessel. The bottom of the vessel is concrete covered with a steel plate. The utility said the fuel may have eroded the bottom to a depth of 65 centimeters. The thinnest part of the section is only 37 centimeters thick. TEPCO also said as much as 57 percent of the fuel in the plant's Number 2 reactor and 63 percent in the Number 3 reactor may have melted, and that some of the melted fuel may have fallen through reactor vessels. Wednesday, November 30, 2011 20:02 +0900 (JST)"

"TEPCO has sent out their compensation applications to people who received provisional compensation. It consists of a 156 page manual and a 60 page application form. It requires copies of a variety of documents people may no longer have access to due to the disasters and each individual in a household must fill out a booklet. This application is only good through August so any ongoing compensation for September onward would require filling out another monster sized application. The truly evil part is if TEPCO declares the application incomplete for some reason the applicant will not be able to fix the issue. They will have to start from scratch and complete another 60 page application with documentation. This farcical process is clearly intended to avoid having to pay any compensation by making the process impossible to complete. People have the ability to request mediation from the government if TEPCO rejects their application creating another long complicated endeavor."

FUKUSHIMA, JAPAN - Even as it struggled to contain the world's worst nuclear disaster in a quarter-century, Tokyo Electric Power Co. late last month quietly set out big plans for the future: It proposed building two new nuclear reactors at its radiation-spewing Fukushima Daiichi power plant. 18 Comments Weigh In Corrections? Graphic Graphic: Japan's nuclear emergency Video Video: The operator of Japan's stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says it has finally plugged a leak of highly radioactive water that had been draining into the Pacific. (April 6) More on this Story Amid nuclear crisis, Japan's Tepco planned new reactors Radioactive water no longer leaking into sea, nuclear plant operator says Japanese utility dumps radioactive water into Pacific to ease storage woes View all Items in this Story Tokyo Electric, known as Tepco, informed Fukushima prefecture on March 26 of its desire to start building the reactors as early as next spring, local officials said. That was just two weeks after an explosion at the utility's tsunami-crippled complex set off a cascade of catastrophes. The proposal was then included in a formal report submitted to authorities in Tokyo on March 31 as part of an annual process designed to assess Japan's future electricity supply.

Given the increasingly serious circumstances involving Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the firm cannot be allowed to get away with ambiguous statements. Appearing Wednesday at a press conference at TEPCO's head office, the first he had held in about a month, company President Masataka Shimizu did not go into detail about future actions concerning the nuclear plant. All he said was: "I want to indicate [when the accident can be contained] as soon as possible." On the subject of compensation for people affected by the crisis, Shimizu said: "We'll act based on the law concerning compensation for nuclear disasters. We're considering provisional payments for urgently needed money." Under the law, the government will shoulder up to 240 billion yen for the Fukushima accident. If the total amount exceeds that figure, TEPCO is in principle responsible for the remainder. The total amount of compensation may reach trillions of yen, however, making it doubtful TEPCO will be able to shoulder such a burden. Therefore, the government and TEPCO have begun discussing a plan to establish a fund for compensation payments, to which other electric power companies will also contribute money.

Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato has expressed anger at the central government and Tokyo Electric Power Co., saying both "betrayed" the people of Fukushima Prefecture with repeated assurances about the safety of nuclear power plants. "We feel we were betrayed [by the central government and TEPCO]," Sato said during an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun on Thursday, nearly a month after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and the outbreak of a series of accidents at the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant. "The central government and TEPCO repeatedly told us, 'Nuclear power plants are safe because they've got multiple protection systems,' and, 'Earthquake-proof measures have been taken,'" Sato said.

"Tokyo Electric Power Co. led Japanese utilities in rallying around a nuclear future, defying growing public opposition to atomic energy after the worst radiation accident in 25 years. Shareholders of Tepco, as Japan's biggest utility is known, voted to continue with nuclear power yesterday at the company's first annual meeting since the crisis at its Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant wiped about $36 billion off its market value. Kansai Electric Power Co. today reinforced the status quo, with shareholders rejecting a motion to halt reactors. The votes in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that caused meltdowns at Fukushima show Japan's reliance on atomic energy even as opposition grows. Shareholders of Tohoku Electric Power Co. and other regional energy providers also voted down proposals against nuclear power. "

Tokyo Electric Power Co (9501.T), Asia's largest utility, is considering building nuclear power plants overseas, Kyodo News Agency reported on Wednesday. Kyodo said TEPCO was considering focusing such moves in emerging countries in Asia, such as Vietnam and India, where demand for electricity is expected to strengthen as their economies grow.

Steam leaked from part of a pump carrying water to the No. 7 nuclear reactor in the quake-hit Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in northern Japan on Saturday, but the leak was soon fixed, Kyodo news agency said. Though the steam contained a minuscule amount of radioactive material, there was no impact on the outside environment, Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) (9501.T), which runs the plant -- the world's biggest -- was quoted by Kyodo as saying. TEPCO officials were not available for comment.

"Tokyo Electric Power Co. aims to sell 280 real estate properties to raise 200 billion yen for use paying compensation payments for damage caused by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant crisis, sources close to the matter said Friday. The properties include its headquarters building in central Tokyo, company dormitories and recreation facilities, according to the sources. TEPCO intends to double its property sales target from 100 billion yen planned in May as it urgently needs to raise funds for full-fledged compensation payments from October, and for expanding fossil power generation to cover nuclear power generation capacity losses, they said."

Tokyo Electric Power Co. succeeded in stopping highly radioactive water from leaking into the Pacific Ocean from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant early Wednesday morning after injecting a chemical agent, it said. In a bid to stem the leak, Tepco injected about 6,000 liters of "water glass," or sodium silicate, and another agent around a seaside pit located near the plant's No. 2 reactor water intake, through which the highly radioactive water had been leaking heavily. The leak has apparently seriously contaminated the marine environment, as a seawater sample taken near the water intake Saturday showed a radioactive iodine-131 concentration of 7.5 million times the maximum level permitted under law.

70 percent of fuel rods in reactor core at Fukushima nuke plant damaged The pool for spent fuel at the No. 4 reactor of TEPCO's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is pictured in this Feb. 1, 2005, file photo. (Mainichi ) About 70 percent of the 400 fuel rods in the No. 1 reactor at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant are damaged, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has revealed. In addition, some 30 percent of the 548 fuel rods in the No. 2 reactor core and 25 percent of those in the No. 3 reactor core are also thought to be damaged, the power company stated on April 6. The figures are based on analysis of radiation data collected from the side of the reactor pressure vessel between the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and March 15. Just after the earthquake hit, the No. 1-3 reactors were successfully shut down when control rods were inserted into the cores. However, the plant operators soon lost the ability to adequately cool the cores, and TEPCO believes it possible some of the nuclear fuel pellets inside the fuel rods may have melted and leaked from their metal sheathes. At the time of the quake the plant's No. 4 reactor was undergoing a routine inspection and had no fuel rods in its core, while reactors No. 5 and 6 were not operating.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., Japan's biggest electric utility company, said Monday it lost more than 700 million dollars in the three months to June due to soaring fuel costs at its power plants. The operator of the world's largest nuclear plant, which was shut down by an earthquake last year, warned it expects to end the year deep in the red. The company, known as TEPCO, reported a net loss of 76.24 billion yen (707 million dollars) for the fiscal first quarter, compared with a net profit of 31.07 billion yen in the same period of the previous year.

"After it was revealed that Tepco had falsified inspection reports at three of its nuclear power plants for years (see WISE/NIRS Nuclear Monitor 573.5436, "Japan: whistleblowing turns into tornado"), other utilities began to investigate if they too had failed to mention defects in reports. Soon, two utilities, Chubu Electric and Tokohu Electric, reported that they too had left out details of faults in their inspection records. Chubu Chubu is Japan's third largest power company, and halted all its reactors after admitting it had failed to report signs of cracking in water pipes of reactors 1 and 3 at its Hamaoka plant to the authorities. The largest of these, in Hamaoka-3, was 60 millimeters long and 3 millimeters deep, in a pipe around 40 millimeters thick. The failure of Chubu to notify the authorities of the crack indications in water pipes is all the more worrying because of recent incidents involving pipes at Hamaoka. Last year, a water pipe at Hamaoka-1 exploded, releasing radioactive steam into the containment building (see WISE News Communique 558.5339, "Japan: a 'grave situation' at Hamaoka BWR"). This year, sixteen workers were irradiated after a water pipe leak at Hamaoka-2 (see WISE/NIRS Nuclear Monitor 569.5411, "Japan: More problems at Hamaoka")."

Smoke rose on Thursday from the world's largest nuclear power plant in Japan, which was shut down by an earthquake two years ago, but the operator said no-one was injured and there was no radiation leak. The smoke was caused by friction from the brake of a crane in a reactor's turbine room, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said in a statement. "We reported immediately to the fire station and used fire extinguishers and now the smoke has stopped," the statement said. "There were no injuries nor any radiation leak" in the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata prefecture, 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of Tokyo, it said. The company said it would thoroughly investigate.

Smoke rose on Thursday from the world's largest nuclear power plant in Japan, which was shut down by an earthquake two years ago, but the operator said no-one was injured and there was no radiation leak. The smoke was caused by friction from the brake of a crane in a reactor's turbine room, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said in a statement. "We reported immediately to the fire station and used fire extinguishers and now the smoke has stopped," the statement said. "There were no injuries nor any radiation leak" in the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata prefecture, 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of Tokyo, it said. The company said it would thoroughly investigate.

"Mistrust of the media has surged among the people of Fukushima Prefecture. In part this is due to reports filed by mainstream journalists who are unwilling to visit the area near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. But above all it is the result of contradictory reportsreleased by the media, TEPCO and the government. On the one hand, many local officials and residents in Fukushima insist that the situation is safe and that the media, in fanning unwarranted fears, are damaging the economy of the region.By contrast, many freelance journalists in Tokyo report that the central government is downplaying the fact that radiation leakage has been massive and that the threat to public health has been woefully underestimated. While the government long hewed to its original definition of a 20 kilometer exclusion zone, following the April 12 announcement that the Fukushima radiation severity level has been raised from a level 5 event (as with Three Mile Island) to a level 7 event (as with Chernobyl), the government also extended the radiation exclusion zone from 20 kilometers to at least five communities in the 30-50 kilometer range."

"The Atomic Energy Society of Japan, an academic society made up of experts on nuclear power engineering, nuclear reactor physics and radiology, on Monday issued a statement criticizing the government, Tokyo Electric Power Co. and other related institutions for delays and insufficiency in their disclosure of information concerning the accidents at Tepco's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which began March 11. People will give an approving nod to each of the points raised by the society because these points accurately show what they have been feeling about the behavior of the government and Tepco in connection with the Fukushima nuclear crisis. The society says that the delay in the data disclosure is extremely regrettable and that the information has been insufficient. Since the Atomic Energy Society of Japan is regarded as close to Japan's nuclear power establishment, the criticism bears importance all the more."

"Cesium that has fallen and been disturbed from the ground surface- 10 times more internal exposure compared to direct inhalation - JAEA Analysis Japan Atomic Energy Agency [JAEA] (Toukai Village, Ibaragi Prefecture) compiled analyses showing that the amount of internal exposure to radioactive cesium from particles that had landed on the ground once and then been disturbed and re-floated was 10 times larger than that of inhaling the airborne particles directly. [This study] will be presented on September 22nd at the Japan Atomic Power Conference that's presently being held in Kitakyushuu City. The JAEA Safety Research Center's research fellow Kimura Masanori (Radiological Protection) points out that "an emphasis needs to be placed to prevent re-floating from the ground surface". Using the survey data of TEPCO and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology collected in Minamisouma City, Fukushima Prefecture, the amounts of internal exposure to Iodine-131, Cesium-134 and Cesium-137 caused by airborne particles (March 20-May 19) and that of re-floated particles (April 3-June 4) were calculated."

Events that have occurred since the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake have reminded us of the reality Japan faces -- another powerful earthquake could occur anytime and anywhere, and we have no way to predict it. Fifty-four nuclear reactors are situated in coastal areas of Japan. Many experts have repeatedly pointed out how difficult it is to ensure the safety of nuclear power plants in this earthquake-prone country. Some scientists had predicted that radiation could leak from a nuclear power plant if it was damaged by a powerful quake and ensuing tsunami. One of them, Kobe University professor emeritus Katsuhiko Ishibashi, called such a potential accident an "earthquake-triggered nuclear power plant disaster." However, electric power suppliers as well as the government had dismissed such warnings as a "minority opinion." The consequences of this attitude are the serious crisis at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO).

"A radiation medicine expert has concluded the former head of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant did not become ill as a result of radiation exposure, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Friday. Makoto Akashi, executive director of the National Institute of Radiological Science, reviewed the cumulative amount of radiation Masao Yoshida, 56, was exposed to since the nuclear crisis started in March and informed Tepco of his view Thursday night, the utility said. Yoshida was relieved of his post Thursday to undergo medical treatment. He was hospitalized Nov. 24. There has been much speculation that his illness was caused by excessive radiation exposure, as he had led efforts to contain the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 plant after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami knocked out three reactors. But the utility again declined to disclose further details on Yoshida's illness or his cumulative radiation exposure since the nuclear crisis started, citing privacy reasons."

Kazakhstan's security service said on Wednesday some of the country's uranium fields had been sold illegally to foreign firms by Kazakh state uranium company Kazatomprom, in a move certain to alarm investors. [ID:nLR384428] Below is the list of key Kazakh uranium joint ventures in which foreign companies have stakes. KYZYLKUM Kyzylkum operates Khorasan-1, Kazakhstan's largest uranium mine with reserves of more than 80,000 tonnes. Canada's Uranium One (UUU.TO) owns 30 percent in its operating company Kyzylkum. A consortium of Japanese firms including Toshiba Corporation (6502.T), TEPCO (9501.T), Chubu Electric (9502.T), Tohoku Electric (9506.T), Kyushu Electric (9508.T) and Marubeni Corporation (8002.T) owns a 40 percent stake. The rest belongs to Kazatomprom.