nuke.news

"The shell of a gas station is one of the few indications that the Ogatsu district of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, was once home to a bustling shopping district. Weeds are poking up through the layer of debris covering the now dark plot where 60 stores had stood before the March 11 earthquake and tsunami destroyed everything. A sign board at the site mocks, "Shop at the local mall." "No one would be willing to live in such an inconvenient town," lamented Noriyasu Ito, a 60-year-old former cargo ship crew member. "

"As a radiation metrology and nuclear safety expert at Kyoto University's Research Reactor Institute, Hiroaki Koide has been critical of how the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) have handled the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. Below, he shares what he thinks may happen in the coming weeks, months and years. The nuclear disaster is ongoing. Immediately after the crisis first began to unfold, I thought that we'd see a definitive outcome within a week. However, with radioactive materials yet to be contained, we've remained in the unsettling state of not knowing how things are going to turn out."

"Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Saturday it has built a framework for a giant cover that will be placed over reactor 1 at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, preventing radioactive materials from spreading and shielding the building from rainwater. News photo It's a wrap: The frame for a giant cover that will enclose reactor 1 at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant is seen Friday. KYODO PHOTO Tepco said it plans to complete the cover, a tentlike structure made of steel frames and airtight polyester sheets, by the end of October."

"As Japan approaches the six-month anniversary of its worst nuclear disaster, when an unprecedented meltdown occurred in three of the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant's reactors in a combination of natural and manmade calamities, the road to recovery is still long and unclear. In anticipation of the anniversary, the Mainichi looks back over the past six months to outline what has been done, learned, and where Japan currently stands on the issue in this time of crisis. On March 11, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake followed by a series of tsunami waves -- the worst in the history of Japan -- severely damaged the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO)-operated Fukushima No. 1 nuclear complex, located along the coast of the towns of Futaba and Okuma in Fukushima Prefecture. As a result of the disaster, all external power sources were lost, causing the supply of cooling water to the plant's No. 1, 2 and 3 reactors to stop. Hydrogen was generated as a result of a chemical reaction between fuel rods and water, leading to hydrogen explosions which badly damaged reactor buildings. The government, which initially estimated the accident level at 4 on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES), later raised the level to 7 -- the highest rank. This matched the level of the Chernobyl catastrophe, which at that stage was the worst nuclear accident in history."

"When it comes to nuclear power it usually takes a while for the truth to come out. And now six months after Japan's catastrophic earthquake and tsunami, sparked off the current crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the truth is finally beginning to emerge. The Japanese government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) still struggling to bring the stricken Fukushima reactors under control today, but the consequences of this crisis are set to continue for decades. As time goes on, of the long term radioactive contamination that has spread over wide areas that will take decades to dissipate; this risks of potential health problems, and ongoing contamination of food supplies. Large areas around the nuclear will remain off limits."

"Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) has edged another step closer to its near-term goal of bringing the crippled reactors at its quake and tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi plant to a state of cold shutdown by January, as the temperature at the second of three damaged units fell below boiling point this week. The utility said it would be cautious on officially declaring cold shutdown had been achieved, however, even when the temperature at the third reactor has dropped significantly, saying the government and the nuclear watchdog would need to give their seal of approval to such a move. WHAT IS COLD SHUTDOWN AND HOW CLOSE IS IT? Cold shutdown is when water used to cool nuclear fuel rods remains below 100 degrees Celsius, preventing the fuel from reheating. But even when the temperature at the third reactor falls below 100 degrees, Tepco said it would not automatically declare that a cold shutdown has been reached."

"he nuclear power plant near the epicenter of the Aug. 23 Virginia earthquake experienced more shaking than it was built to withstand, officials said Thursday. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the North Anna (Va.) Power Station can handle shaking of as much as 18 percent of the force of gravity. The U.S. Geological Survey measured shaking of 26 percent the force of gravity at the plant on the day of the 5.8-magnitude earthquake, The Washington Post reported Thursday. Dominion Virginia Power officials said inspections revealed there has been no damage to "safety-related" structures at the plant, despite the data. Nuclear power plants are often built with a large safety margin, according to nuclear experts. The NRC has not completed its inspection of the facility and has not said when it will give approval for the plant's reactors to restart."

" Sovacool reports that 21 deaths have so far been linked to Fukushima - 7 from first responders and plant operators, and 14 elderly people who died during the evacuation process. None of these were due to radiation exposure, but he notes that 160 people have so far been exposed to 'hazardous' levels of radiation. Hopefully the final outcome will be less than the thousands of early deaths that followed Chernobyl - Sovacool quotes the low IAEA-WHO estimate of 4000, but also points to other studies, which suggest 93,000 early cancer deaths. But away from the media spotlight, there are claimed to be continuing deaths and disease as a result of routine emissions and occasional leaks from nuclear facilities: Sovacool quotes 3,780 premature deaths and 1,253 cancers globally per annum. Of course it's not just people that have to be buried, but also nuclear waste. The back end of the nuclear cycle is probably its worst aspect- unless you are concerned about the prospects of terrorist attacks, the illegal diversion of nuclear material, or the proliferation of weapons making capacity. The latter issues relate to current geo-political conflicts, but the waste issue takes us beyond that into the far future. Sovacool quotes Alvin Weinberg's comment that, in terms of guarding and managing nuclear wastes, humanity seemed to have a ' remarkable belief that it can devise social institutions that are stable for periods equivalent to geological ages'."

"A group of Japanese researchers say that a total of 15,000 terabecquerels of radioactive substances is estimated to have been released from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea. Researchers at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Kyoto University and other institutes made the calculation of radioactivity released from late March through April. The combined amount of iodine-131 and cesium-137 is more than triple the figure of 4,720 terabecquerels earlier estimated by Tokyo Electric Power Company, the plant operator. The utility only calculated the radioactivity from substances released from the plant into the sea in April and May. The researchers say the estimated amount of radioactivity includes a large amount that was first released into the air but entered the sea after coming down in the rain. They say they need to determine the total amount of radioactivity released from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant in order to accurately assess the impact of the disaster on the sea."

"Eighty-seven percent of evacuees from Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures -- hit hard by the March 11 megaquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis -- have no prospect of returning home, and 54 percent are considering settling elsewhere in Japan, according to a Mainichi poll. Furthermore, more than half of respondent households say members of their family have been forced to live separately."

"The Swiss government has ruled out any return to nuclear power once current stations are shut down. At the end of August the Senate Energy Committee recommended that Switzerland restrict itself to banning the construction of nuclear power stations "of the current generation", leaving the door open for the construction of new generation reactors in the future. "This would leave the nuclear option on the table and create a lot of confusion," the government said in its response to the proposal on Thursday. The government announced in May that it would phase out the use of nuclear power by 2034 by not replacing the country's existing nuclear reactors when they reached the end of their lifespan."

"Genkai nuclear plant operator Kyushu Electric Power Co. promised in 2009 to repay debts incurred by local fisheries cooperatives totaling 700 million yen, it was revealed on Sept. 7. The Saga Prefecture Genkai Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives, an association of over 13 local fisheries unions based in the city of Karatsu, Saga Prefecture, obtained a promise from Kyushu Electric for the power company to repay 700 million yen in debt incurred by the federation and its members in 2009 -- the same year the utility started its "pluthermal" (plutonium-thermal) reactor project at the local Genkai Nuclear Power Plant. The utility is thought to have agreed to pay the debt in return for the federation supporting the pluthermal project."

"Breaking News: Melt OUT was predicted on 3/11 Posted by Mochizuki on September 5th, 2011 · No Comments http://nanohana.me/?p=4545 On March 11, at 22:35, the Cabinet received advice predicting that the fuel would be damaged and the pressure vessels would be breached Forecast: exposure of top of active fuel (TAF): 21:40 (approx.) Forecast: damage to the reactor core(s) begins: 22:20 (approx.) Forecast: breaching of the pressure vessel(s) begins: 23:50 (approx.) [excerpt from source document: Cabinet briefing paper: source link] Japanese Prime Minister and Cabinet knew of melt through in MARCH"

"I am a resident of San Luis Obispo County, and an employee of Diablo Canyon (DCPP). I understand that a good many people are very concerned about DCPP after what happened to the plant in Japan. I field questions about our plant almost every day, from neighbors and family members. Being aware of both the plant design and conditions at the Fukushima plant and DCPP, I am not worried about a similar disaster here. I could go into the specific reasons why I do not believe such a threat is credible, but that is not why I am writing to you. I do believe DCPP is a threat to our community, but it is not because of the plant's design, or a potential natural disaster. I believe the principle threat is the company that runs the plant, PG&E."

"Knowing how salt travels in water is easy, since it dissolves quickly and evenly. But determining where groundwater carries that salt isn't as simple. Local and state officials whose job it is to keep track of and remove the toxic salt perchlorate are leaning on science to find out how far and fast the Santa Clarita Valley's underground water is traveling - and taking the toxin with it. State and local water officials are redoubling efforts to track the spread of perchlorate, in light of the discovery last year of the salt at Well 201 in Valencia, owned by the Valencia Water Company. A state health official said the finding was a surprise, although local water officials say the discovery was expected. Valencia Water has been testing water from Well 201 every month since first finding perchlorate there in August 2010."

"Work has begun to rebury radioactive waste at a former uranium mine where campers once vacationed in a remote corner of the Stanislaus National Forest. Forest officials announced that a crew from Engineering/Remediation Resources Group of Martinez began work Aug. 25 at the Juniper Uranium Mine. The remediation is being paid for with $1.5 million from the federal government's Superfund for handling toxic waste. The Juniper Uranium Mine is not far off Eagle Meadow Road, about 40 miles east of Sonora and just two miles west of Kennedy Meadow. Until eight years ago, the former mine site was used occasionally by RV campers and hunters because it provided a rare level spot to park in a remote section of the forest, said John Buckley, executive director of the Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center."

Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (TEPCO) announced August 30 the basic scheme and schedule for full-fledged payment of compensation for damages and losses caused by the catastrophe at its Fukushima I nuclear power station. The company established standards for calculation of compensation amounts in a wide range of areas, including limitations on shipment of agricultural and fishery products, losses due to rumors and other operating loss, cost of moving in response to evacuation orders, income loss due to inability to work, and mental/emotional toll. About 500,000 claims are expected for the time being. The company plans to mail out claims forms and begin accepting claims around September 12, and to start making payments in October. Some 6,500 workers, including 3,000 of its own employees, are going to provide services in compensation-related consultation.

The Semipalatinsk region suffered under four decades of Soviet nuclear testing. Now, the country wants to become an international research hub for the effects of radiation on future generations. Matilda Lee reports from Kazakhstan Ground zero is an hour and a half drive away from the Kazakh National Nuclear Centre (NNC) along a dusty road in the seemingly endless steppe. The Ecologist is in the Semipalatinsk (renamed Semey in 1991) region of eastern Kazakhstan to observe one of the world's nuclear hotspots: the epicenter of the Soviet Union's previous - and highly controversial - nuclear testing programme.

The cost of generating nuclear power in Japan is one-third higher than Tokyo's last cost assessment in 2004 and 50 percent higher if compensation costs for the recent nuclear crisis are included, but still cheaper than fossil fuels, a study showed this week. The study by the country's top energy research firm could provide fodder for both sides of Japan's nuclear power debate, which is expected to heat up amid public wariness over nuclear safety despite the prospect of protracted power shortages. Lawmakers and officials are working to come up with a new energy policy after the Fukushima radiation crisis made it difficult, if not impossible, to build more reactors in the world's third-biggest nuclear generator. Prior to the crisis, as part of its effort to fight climate change, Japan planned to boost nuclear capacity to meet over half of electricity demand by 2030 by building 13 more reactors.