- The public approval rating for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seems to be rising. In parallel, public opinion on nuclear energy policy has improved since Abe took office. Abe’s overall rating is 68% positive, largely due to his firm, encouraging economic policies intended to curb Japan’s current recession and his promises to rehabilitate the tsunami-ravaged Tohoku region. With respect to nuclear restarts, the public is essentially split with 44% in favor and 46% opposed. This should be compared to the numerous opinion polls prior to the December election that showed 70% of the public opposed to restarts. (Yomiuri Shimbun)
- A new poll run by NHK World shows considerable support PM Abe’s plan to review the no-nukes policy of Tokyo’s previous regime. In a telephone survey of more than 1,100 people, NHK found 43% support the policy review, 21 percent are opposed, and 30% undecided. The number of favorable responses thus doubles the number of unfavorable. In addition, when asked what the most pressing problem in Japan is, 38% said it was the economy, 18% chose tsunami/earthquake recovery, 15% selected social security reform, and energy policy came in fourth at 10%.
- Construction of the enclosure for the removal of the spent fuel bundles from Fukushima Daiichi unit #4 is progressing smoothly. The first layer of the large steel framing has been installed and work on the next layer is in process. Tepco has posted an excellent page on the milestone, including a picture of the first layer and an accompanying graphic of what the structure will look like when completed… http://www.tepco.co.jp//en/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2013/images/handouts_130115_01-e.pdf In order to get an idea of scale, find the man standing on the left-hand side of the first layer’s picture. (Tepco News Releases)
- The Nuclear Regulatory Authority has decided to broaden the time-span used for the definition of active earthquake faults. Up until now, the time-frame for slippage or movement along a fault has been 130,000 years. The new guideline proposed by the NRA’s expert team calls for a 400,000 year span. The proposal says “the activity of faults as early as approximately 400,000 years ago should be assessed.” The NRA’s draft supports a 2010 report made by Japan’s Headquarters for Earthquake Research. NRA commissioner Kunihiko Shimazaki says, “In some cases, assessing whether faults on the premises of nuclear plants are active have been prolonged. Pointless discussions will disappear if the definition is reviewed.” The proposal also proposed the deletion of the phrase “Reactor buildings can be built above active faults as long as they do not pose a serious threat to the facilities’ safety,” from the existing regulations. Shimazaki says no existing methodology is in place for assessing how such faults would affect the safety of nuclear plants, thus the phrase should be removed. However, the expert team says they will incorporate the introduction of quake and tsunami risk assessments on nukes in their final report at the end of the month. (Mainichi Shimbun)
- The fisheries along the coastline of Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures are gradually recovering from the impact of the 3/11/11 tsunami. However, it will be a long time before they are back to full capacity. The four major fishing ports in Miyagi–Ishinomaki, Kesennuma, Onagawa and Shiogama—say their haul for 2012 was about 168,000 tons. This is just a bit more than half of the 313,000 tons in 2010. The recovery has been slow due to rebuilding their fish-processing facilities. The volume of catches has out-stripped the capacity to process the fish for market. In Ishinomaki, only about 70 of the 200 pre-3/11/11 processing facilities are operating. The bans on certain kinds of fish due to Fukushima contamination are hurting the fishermen. Dragnet fisherman Yoshimi Ankai says the reconstruction of processing facilities has helped his trade, but some contamination bans continue to hurt, “It’s a great step forward that I’m now able to fish, but my catches are about half of what they were before the disaster.” But, “Each time I fish, I have to throw back fish worth about 500,000 yen.” Iwate fishing companies experience a similar recovery status. Their total was 112,500 tons in 2010, but last year it was only about 88,000 tons. In 2011, Iwate totaled 63,000 tons. (Yomiuri Shimbun)
- Japan’s Health Ministry wants all workers at contaminated waste disposal sites to be monitored for internal and external radiation exposure. Current regulations do not cover radiation monitoring for this class of employment. Under the proposed regulatory revision, staff at temporary and permanent sites will wear dosimeters for external exposure and take regular whole body examinations for internal dose. The rule will be applied to any site handling contaminated wastes with a radioactive content of more than 10,000 Becquerels per kilogram. The ministry says the new rule should take effect in July, concurrent with the NRA’s time-table for new nuclear safety regulations. (NHK World)
- Toshiba is developing a small nuclear reactor to be used in mining Canadian tar sands for fossil fuels. Their goal is to have the first one in operation by 2020. The reactor will be in the ten to fifty Megawatt range. Steam produced by the system will be used to heat the underground geology, some 300 meters deep, and produce oil sand slurries that can be pumped to the surface for the extraction of the petroleum-based fuels. In the interest of safety, the entire system will be located underground and built to exceed local earthquake criteria. Toshiba is currently negotiating with the United States for selling the system in America. Currently, Canadian tar sand mining uses natural-gas boilers to make the steam, but the gas costs have been considerable. On the other hand, the Toshiba reactor will be fueled once every 30 years, at a far lower cost. Plus, Carbon Dioxide emissions from gas boiler’s will no longer be the case. In addition to tar sand utilization, the reactor system can be used for desalination of seawater and the high volume production of hydrogen from the electrolysis of fresh water. Last year, nuclear projects around the world accounted for 10% of Toshiba’s income. Currently they are involved in four nuke construction projects in China, four in the United States, and the building of the Oma and Higashidori plants in Japan. They have also submitted bids for one plant in Finland and two in the Czech Republic. (Yomiuri Shimbun)
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