March 21, 2012

Mar 21, 2012 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • The Environment Ministry finds that most of the soils and open water in Fukushima have no Cesium concentrations. The Ministry conducted the most recent survey from January 5 through Jan. 27. One water sample from the Hirose River near Date had detectable Cesium at 8 Becquerels per liter. All others showed little or no detectable Cesium. One very high Cesium soil contamination level has been discovered in a hot spot near Iitate village. A concentration of 154,000 Becquerels per kilogram was found with an undisclosed river bank. For disposal, the material will have to be contained in a ferroconcrete-lined pit, just like incinerator ash reading above 100,000 Becquerels. Most of the other soil samples revealed little or no Cesium. (Mainichi Shimbun)
  • Another prefecture says they will consider assisting in tsunami debris disposal. Mie Gov. Eikei Suzuki made the announcement today, identifying an incinerator at a cement plant in the city of Inabe as the disposal site. He has approached Taiheiyo Cement Corp., a Tokyo-based firm that has been incinerating tsunami debris at its Ofunato plant in Iwate Prefecture, for data on the technical feasibility of doing the same in Inabe. Taiheiyo Cement said it hasn’t received an official request from the prefecture, but it will cooperate if the government can gain approval of local residents and ensure that safety standards can be met. (Japan Times)
  • A third nuke has passed its accident-resistance stress test. NISA has issued a draft report on the stress test evaluation for Ikata unit #3 in Ehime Prefecture. The Oi units #3 & 4 in Fukui Prefecture have already passed their tests. Shikoku Electric, which owns the Ikata nuclear plants, says the test shows unit #3 could survive an earthquake 1.5 times stronger than the most powerful quake for the region. The formal approval of the test results from NISA is forthcoming. The next step is a review of the results by Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC). 15 other stress test results remain under consideration. It is also noted that the last two operating nukes in Japan will be shuttered by the end of April, exacerbating the current power shortage, unless the two OI units can be restarted before then. (Japan Times)
  • An American nuclear advocacy group says the NSC has approved the stress test results for Oi units #3 & 4. The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) reports that the NSC found the stress test results to be satisfactory. The findings have been forwarded to Prime Minister Noda and three of his cabinet ministers to be used in making their final decision on whether or not to allow the two units to restart. (nei.org)
  • Osaka city government is trying to get nuclear energy abolished. They are the principle shareholders in Kansai Electric Company (KEPCO) which owns and operates 11 nukes, or roughly one-fifth of all nuclear plants in Japan. Osaka has ~9% of the KEPCO stock and will take its declaration to the next shareholder’s meeting to try and sway enough votes to force the company to comply. On March 18, the Osaka Municipal Government’s energy strategy council demanded “an end to all nuclear power plants as soon as possible” — seeking complete abolition of nuclear power. At present KEPCO appears unlikely to comply with requests to eliminate nuclear power. Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who was behind getting the council to address the issue, says he doesn’t support immediate abolition, but rather wants a rational strategy of phase-out leading to nuclear abolishment as soon as possible. He says he will try to get Kyoto and Kobe city councils to join in the demand since they own a combined 4% of KEPCO’s stock. With a united front, Hashimoto feels enough other shareholders might support the declaration to get it passed at the meeting. (Mainichi Shimbun)
  • The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry research committee is investigating nuclear energy’s potential role with Japan’s electricity by 2030. One member says it should be 30%, roughly the nuclear contribution to Japan’s electricity supply before the current de-facto moratorium on nuke operation. Nine members feel it should be 20-25%. Seven say it should be zero! They will file a formal proposal in the near future which is anticipated to call for the 20-25% goal. (Yomiuri Shimbun)