April 23, 2015

Apr 23, 2015 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • Another rainwater run-off incident at F. Daiichi hits the Press. After last month’s media bashing over mildly radioactive rainwater run-off possibly reaching the sea, Tepco brought in portable pumps to carry run-off out of drainage ditches and send it to the barricaded quay (inner port). The system began operation last Friday. A regular inspection found the one pump being used was operational at 2:30pm on Monday afternoon, but not on Tuesday morning at 8:45am. Tepco says water in the drainage ditch was leaking into the sea, but how the liquid by-passed the barricade at the channel’s sea outlet has not been mentioned. Tepco sampled and began analyzing the water for radioactive content after the discovery, but all reporting Press outlets said the company had no idea how much liquid had escaped and what the concentration of radioactive isotopes was. Tepco told the Press that the most recent analysis before the pump stopped was “extremely low”. NHK World said it was not raining heavily overnight and the pump could handle rainfall up to 14 millimeters per hour.  http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html  The pumping system was down because the power supply generator had failed. A portable generator was brought in and attached to the circuitry.  At 8:09pm, the pumping and water transfer was resumed. Rainwater run-off has been diverted ever since. Seawater samples at the point of the temporary leakage showed nothing detectible. Many of Japan’s most popular Press outlets headlined that the leakage was “toxic”. For example, the Mainichi Shimbun headline read “Fukushima plant pumps halted; toxic water leaking into the ocean”. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2015/images/handouts_150421_01-e.pdf — http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150421p2g00m0dm067000c.html http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2015/1249920_6844.html  Pictures of the portable pumping array can be found here… http://photo.tepco.co.jp/en/date/2015/201504-e/150421-02e.html
  • A Kagoshima court rejects a filing to block restarting the Sendai nukes. The ruling comes a week after a Fukui court blocked restart of two Takahama units. Kagoshima’s Presiding Judge Ikumasa Maeda effectively rejected the assertion made by Fukui Judge Higuchi of Nuclear Regulation Authority standards lacking rationality. Maeda said, “No unreasonableness is evident in new regulatory standards set by the NRA for nuclear power generation.” With respect to plaintiff claims that the Sendai units could not withstand worst-case earthquakes, the judge said, “Kyushu Electric conducted detailed investigations into earthquakes occurring in areas surrounding the grounds of the power plant and the geological features of the region and then determined the maximum seismic vibrations by considering a certain measure of uncertainty involved in the prediction of natural phenomena.” Plaintiff lawyer Hiroyuki Kawai said the decision is “extremely regrettable”. He added, “We will not give in, we will continue fighting. We will not let our emotions be swayed by any short-term results and we will fight until we get rid of all nuclear reactors in Japan.” The plaintiffs say they will file an appeal. Lead plaintiff Ms. Akiko Morinaga said, “The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), the Satsumasendai Municipal Government, the Kagoshima Prefectural Government, and now the judiciary have approved the reactivation of the nuclear reactors. It’s disheartening that no one is protecting the residents’ lives.” She also said that most local residents hide their true opinions because of friends and family working at Sendai station. She said they are “in truth, opposed to the nuclear power plant.” Finally, Morinaga vowed, “We’re going to press ahead with the principal lawsuit.” Undaunted, Kyushu Electric, Sendai’s owner, said they plan on restarts beginning in mid-July. The two nuke units are currently under final safety inspections by the NRA. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html — http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/22/japan-moves-nearer-to-restarting-nuclear-reactors-after-court-gives-go-ahead — http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002099564 — http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150422p2a00m0na020000c.html — http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150423_20.html
  • 174 F. Daiichi workers have reached their five year limit on radiation exposure. The annual ceiling is 50 millisieverts, and the 5-year is 100 mSv. A bit more than 2,000 are presently between 50 and 100 mSv, most of which have been transferred to non-exposure jobs. A radiation management employee said, “Firms tend to transfer workers whose radiation exposure exceeds 20 millisieverts per year from their posts at the nuclear power plant.” An official with the Natural Resources and Energy Agency struck an ominous chord, saying, “It is unclear to some extent whether it will be possible to secure enough labor until the decommissioning process is completed.” Official Shigeaki Tsunoyama of Fukushima Prefecture seemed to agree, “If experienced workers leave the plant due to their radiation exposure levels, decommissioning will stall. The government and Tepco have to take some steps as early as possible.”  The nuke station currently has about 14,000 registered workers, and more than 41,000 have worked there since March, 2011. http://www.fukushimaminponews.com/news.html?id=497
  • Fukushima Prefecture had the lowest population decline in Japan for 2014. There has been a significant drop in the national population for nearly a decade. For 2014, Fukushima had the lowest, percentage-wise. This is a significant turn-around for the prefecture since the major population exodus after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, and subsequent tsunami-spawned nuclear accident. The shrinkage for 2014 was 0.55%, while the previous year witnessed a 0.79% drop. These were the lowest shrinkage rates of all 47 prefectures for the two years. http://www.fukushimaminponews.com/news.html?id=500
  • A small camera-equipped drone landed on the Prime Minister’s office roof. It has become the lead story throughout Japan’s popular Press. The drone was emitting low level radiation. It carried a small bottle of liquid with radiation hazard sticker on it. Sources say it probably landed on Tuesday or Wednesday because the drone was dry, and it rained Monday. Tokyo police inflated a plastic dome around the device and carted it away in a large strongbox. The police said the radioactive source in the liquid appeared to be Cesium, perhaps from Fukushima Daiichi. The police said the radiation level was too low to be of harm to anyone. http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201504220015 — http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/04/23/national/cesium-carrying-drone-landed-prime-ministers-helipad-time-march-22-abe-flight/#.VTjf0KMcQdU